


Take it, Take it All Away

by Mafy_mod



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Abusive Parents, Akashi and his unorthodox plans (again), Bullying, Comedy, Crossdressing!Kuroko, Forced Crossdressing, Hate to Love, M/M, Protective Akashi Seijuurou, Protective Aomine Daiki, Protective Momoi Satsuki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-03-05 07:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18824104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mafy_mod/pseuds/Mafy_mod
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya had to abdicate 3 years of his life and the exchange keeps on ticking. Not a girl but unable to live as a boy either, he goes about his days closed off of the world that keeps on rejecting him for what he is and what he is forced to be.For three years has Kuroko been a girl, even if his manly pride tells him otherwise. A fake gender at all moments, a substitute for his deceased mother at home, a target for bullying in school. With all that, the last thing Kuroko needed in his life was someone suddenly pushing their way in and creating even more trouble. Others would beg to differ, especially 'abnormal school life'-seeking Akashi Seijuurou.





	1. Mirror Mirror On the Wall

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Mafy's here~
> 
> As you know, I had to put a little hiatus on By Blood and Iron since I'm stuck in a certain scene (yeah, I also have writer's block, like everyone else XD). So as to entertain myself and fill in the hole in the release schedule, I started a new fic~
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!!

“There are several forms of waka,” explained the teacher as he wrote down a list of words in the blackboard. “Only tanka is still used, so usually the term waka refers only to tanka, but there are four other forms of waka. Hm, let’s see. Today is May 11th so… Number 11, read the example in the textbook of the chouka form of waka.”

 

The soft clatter of a chair being moved echoed through the classroom and a student stood up from the chair. Long, silky light blue locks of hair fluttered in the air, accompanying the slow movements of the arms as they lifted the textbook from the desk. The reddish and thin lips parted from each other and started moving – but nearly no sound seemed to be released from the vocal cords.

 

“Ah… T-That’s enough, Kuroko…” awkwardly said the teacher, inwardly cringing over why exactly had it been this student, in particular, the number 11 of this class. Maybe he should change his method of selecting students for answering questions or reading excerpts of the Japanese literature cases that were studied in his classes out loud. “The first example in the textbook goes by the name of chouka, which is a repetition of 5 and 7 _on_ phrases, where the last phrase contains 7 _on_. It was mainly…”

 

“Pfft… She did it again…”

 

“I’m starting to pity our teachers, having to teach a student like her.”

 

“I know, right!? Hehehehe…”

 

“…” Softly, Kuroko Tetsuya sighed and sat back on the chair, the textbook once again meeting with the desk’s surface. A quick peek to the clock placed on the wall above the blackboard made yet another sigh escape to the stuffy atmosphere of the classroom.

 

_Just half an hour until lunch break… Just thirty more minutes before I can return to be my true self…_

 

-.-

 

Lunchtime in Teikou High School was always the most sought after period throughout the school hours. Teikou was one of the ace school in the Tokyo area, excelling in the most varied of fields, from studies to the sports clubs that won championship after championship. As such, the classes were expected to be a little bit pushier than those of other schools, so as to keep their imperial status against all the other school in Japanese grounds.

 

It was only during the full hour that made up lunchtime that the students had a chance to catch a break from their intense studying schedules.

 

“Hey~” cheerfully said a female student, jumping around until she reached one of the seats near the windows of the classroom. “Kuroko-san, do you want to eat lunch with us today? We would _love_ to have a conversation with you~”

 

“Pfft… It would be easier to have a conversation with a rock,” snickered one of the male students, the small group of other students around him also laughing at his biting words towards their fellow classmate.

 

“Hey~ Come on~ Have lunch with us, yeah?” insisted the girl, looking over to her classmate with puppy eyes and a cutesy tilt of her head. “I want to be friends with you. Everyone in our class wants to be friends with a girl as cute as you~ So come with us, ‘kay?”

 

“…” Kuroko simply looked back to the ecstatic female, dead silent and with an expressionless demeanour.

 

“You’ll come, rig—“

 

“Tetsu-chan, let’s have lunch together!!” roared an extremely cheerful female voice, the door of the classroom being slammed open to show a pink haired girl holding into a wrapped bento box. Momoi Satsuki quickly crossed the whole classroom and went over in the direction of her childhood friend, quickly taking a hand on her own and giving a strong tug to the slender arm. “I brought your share too, which is with Dai-chan already, so let’s hurry up before he eats everything.”

 

 _I highly doubt that he will…,_ inwardly cringed Kuroko, sending a couple of prayers to the gods – but it would be quite ironic if the gods would listen to this prayer and not to all the previous ones so it was a tough decision whether it would be good or not if it would reach the deities.

 

After walking in a quick stride for a couple of minutes and climbing the stairs that would give access to one side of the main building’s rooftop, the two students slowed down their pace and Momoi finally released her childhood friend’s hand.

 

“Thank you very much, Momoi-san,” said Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh at the same time as he offered a quick bow to the pink haired girl. “You always have such good timing when showing up in my classroom.”

 

“I just want to see you as fast as I can, Tetsu-kun, since we’re in different classes,” cheerfully said Momoi, beaming a bright smile at the bluenette. She motioned one of her hands forward and grabbed into the bluenette’s arm with a tight lock of limbs. “And I’ve told you time and time again. Dai-chan and I will always be here for you! We’ll protect you from those terrible bullies!”

 

“Somehow, that really hurts my pride…” softly sighed Kuroko, twisting his nose just the slightest at the pink haired girl’s words.

 

“You still have pride in your small body, Tetsu?” asked a male voice with a slight playfulness to it. Sitting next to the locked door of the rooftop was Aomine Daiki, a sly smirk on his lips as he eyed the stairs that his two childhood friends were slowly climbing. “Letting your hair grow, coming to school in a chick’s uniform… Your kinks sure are nice ones~”

 

“I don’t want to be told that by someone who is a big breasts addict,” deadpanned Kuroko, his teal eyes slowly falling to the small pile of gravure magazines next to the tanned male’s laid down body. “Besides, you know very well this is not a kink or anything of the sort. I would actually prefer if I could stop this farce once and for all… For my own sake but also for his…”

 

“Ah… S-Sorry, Tetsu… I didn’t mean to…” awkwardly apologised Aomine, averting looking in the downcast semblance of bluenette’s direction and softly massaging the back of his neck.

 

“Look what you’ve done, Dai-chan!!” yelled Momoi in admonishment, tightly grabbing into the bluenette’s body and burying his face on her cleavage. “Tetsu-kun is on the verge of tears now!! Only trash makes girls cry, you know!?”

 

“Momoi-san… I’m a boy…” pointed out Kuroko with a muffled voice, struggling just the slightest to free himself from the suffocating embrace.

 

“I-I know that!” yelped Momoi, releasing the bluenette’s body and taking a few steps away from him, shyly throwing quick glances in his direction. “B-But even if you weren’t… I would still love you all the same, Tetsu-kun<3”

 

“Ohhh…! A Satsuki x Tetsu-chan AV would be quite the show,” acknowledged Aomine, nodding his head in agreement at the fantasies that were swirling around in his brain. A sly smirk soon popped up on his lips and he lunged one of his hands forward, quickly slapping the bluenette’s skirt and pulling it upwards. “If it weren’t for your voice and the material down there, you would be just our regular gir— UGH!!!”

 

“Do you want me to hit you, Aomine-kun?” threateningly warned Kuroko, an expressionless glare on his teal eyes as he pushed his skirt back in place, quickly straightening it and adjusting it to its usual appearance.

 

“Y-You already d-did…” groaned Aomine, his dark blue eyes slightly tearstained as he massaged the red and sore spot on his face that the bluenette had mercilessly punched. “Besides, why the heck are you wearing _that_?”

 

“You know very well why I’m forced to come out as a woman instead of my true male gender, Aomine-kun,” sighed Kuroko, graciously lowering his body in a sitting position on the floor, making sure that the short skirt covered all the important places of his body. He heard Momoi softly groan in disappointment at him not having said anything back to her millionth confession of adoration but he decided that it was better to leave it as such. “It won’t be forever… Just for the time being, I have to hold out as Kuroko Tetsuya, a female high school student. But soon enough I will go back to being a normal high school boy. It’s just for a little bit long—“

 

“Or until your old man dies,” interrupted Aomine, a wrathful expression on his features as he looked away into the distance. “Tetsu, I swear that if he puts his hands on you while mistaking you for your mother, I will fucking end him myself!”

 

“Aomine-kun, how many times have we had this conversation now…?” sighed Kuroko, a small smile on his lips as he looked at the tanned male. “My father would never do anything to me. He’s my father, after all.”

 

“And it’s exactly that father that is forcing you, his son, to dress up in drag 24/7 because he thinks you are your deceased mother!!” roared Aomine, powerfully slamming his fist against the locked rooftop door. The pink haired female was about to intervene when the tanned male loudly groaned and started furiously scratching his head. “Argh! But that’s not what I meant! I was asking why you are wearing boxers instead of panti— UGH!”

 

“Do you want me to hit you, Aomine-kun?” deadpanned Kuroko, lowering his hand back to his lap after having struck down on the tanned male’s face a second time.

 

“I-I want you to return to being a proper boy so fucking much…” grumbled Aomine, sprawled on the floor with a huge bump on the side of his face, bright red and painfully throbbing. “I can’t bring myself to hit you while you have a skirt on you, you freaking perv…”

 

“T-Tetsu-kun… haa… wearing… haa… panties…” panted Momoi, her fingers quickly pressing down on the screen of her smartphone as she quickly browsed for online undergarment shops. “Ohhh… If I mess around a little bit with the stock, I may make enough money to buy this whole collection… Hehehe… Red lingerie would definitely suit Tetsu-kun… Hehehehe….”

 

“Satsuki, your creep is showing…” sighed Aomine, straightening his body to a sitting position once again and taking a hold of the wrapped bento box near his stack of gravure magazines. “Oh, that’s right! Midorima wanted to talk about something related to the locker room with you. I think he ran out of space for his weird lucky items and wants to get a second one.”

 

“Now?” asked Momoi, whipping her head around to force herself to rip her eyes from the smartphone’s screen and look to the tanned male. “Midorin can wait until club activity’s time~”

 

“Don’t blame me for any stupid stunt that he pulls to try to stock his lucky items, then,” said Aomine, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders at the same time as he picked on one of his ears with his pinky.

 

“Oh no… If it ends up like last time…!” squeaked Momoi, her pink eyes opening wide in shock and one of her hands covering her mouth. She quickly stood up, grabbing onto her wrapped lunch box and putting her phone back in her school jacket’s pocket, and turned around on her heels in the stairs’ direction. “I’ll go check the club room now. You can start eating ahead of me~”

 

“Success!” softly celebrated Aomine as he clutched his fist in victory. He returned the bento box to the floor and took a couple of diverse pieces of bread from behind his back, throwing one of them to Kuroko. “Now we can eat lunch and not suffer from food poisoning during our afternoon classes.”

 

“Your methods are starting to evolve to smarter escapes, Aomine-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, his hands tearing the plastic wrap around the chocolate chips melon pan. He took a small bite to the bread and chewed it before he spoke once again. “But I wonder for how long we’ll be able to continue evading Momoi-san’s home-cooked lunches…”

 

“Yeah, true…” sighed Aomine, nearly in the form of a groan. He also tore the plastic wrap of a yakisoba pan and took a large bite out of it, not even waiting to swallow the big chunk before he continued talking. “But the basketball club is sort of busy right now, with the upcoming scrimmages against other schools. I also heard we’re going to have a sports scholarship student coming next week. Coach told us that he’s a student from America who was scouted to come to our basketball club. I sure can’t wait to put him crying on his knees after beating the shit out of him in a one-on-one match! Ahahahahahahahaha!”

 

“Please go easy on him or the money the school is putting forward in his scholarship will go to waste,” advised Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips as he happily listened to Aomine narrating the events revolving around the sports club that he would have liked to join himself. If only there weren’t any unfortunate matters revolving around his current gender…

 

“I’ll try but I can’t guarantee anything,” said Aomine, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “But as you can see, Satsuki is quite busy right now. Plus, it seems that our captain has convinced her to join the Student Council as a secretary for the budgeting department. He’s also the new Student Council President so I guess he must have pulled some strings to make it happen. Bless you, Akashi! Double work to Satsuki equals less time for her to cook when she gets home!”

 

“Maybe we should just tell her that we no longer need her to make bento boxes for us,” sighed Kuroko, lowering his melon pan to his lap. “I feel bad throwing food away every single day…”

 

“This is not food, it’s poison!” corrected Aomine, his body shuddering and an expression of disgust popping out in his face. “If you wanna eat it, go right ahead. But I’m sure you want to avoid ending up in the nurse’s office. The headmaster won’t be there and the nurse would be extremely shocked to see a cock hidden underneath that skirt. Wait, wait, wait! Don’t hit me again!!”

 

“…” Kuroko silently lowered his fist once again, his teal eyes with a certain angry glint in them.

 

“Satsuki and I know about it because we all grew up together as neighbours,” continued Aomine, a masked shade of pink appearing on his cheeks as he sideways glanced to the bluenette and ran his dark blue eyes from his head down to his half exposed legs. “But anyone would doubt their own eyes if they discovered you’re a dude. Your mother was a babe and you definitely got all of those genes out of her.”

 

“That’s an inherited trait that I truly resent,” sighed Kuroko, stuffing his melon pan in his mouth to avoid having to continue with that conversation.

 

He was sure that a lot of crossdressers, cosplayers and those who identified themselves with a gender they were not born with in a physical sense would appreciate having an androgynous appearance, as it suited their preferences and hobbies perfectly well. But it was a totally different story when one was forced to become what they were not against their will, losing their identity simply out of filial piety to a psychologically unstable father.

 

 _He’s not the only one mourning Mom’s sudden death…,_ inwardly mumbled Kuroko as he continued taking small bites to his lunch. _But I guess Dad is too self-centred at the moment to realise that his_ son _is suffering even more than he is. Forced to become a girl, forced to become my own deceased mother… For how many years will this continue?_

 

“Oh!” exclaimed Aomine out of the blue, his body perking up with a sudden jerk. “You have no idea what happened yesterday! Kise, that idiot, he—“

 

And lunch break continued to tick down, with Aomine happily narrating funny, sometimes vexing, events that happened in the daily morning and afternoon practices of the basketball club and Kuroko attentively listening to all of it, savouring all of the details as if he had been there himself.

 

Soon enough, the bell to announce the beginning of the afternoon classes loudly rang.

 

“Oh shit! I have the misfortune of having PE after lunch break on Tuesdays!” suddenly yelped Aomine as he quickly gathered his things and readied himself to leave their lunch spot. Kuroko also gathered his own stuff and started motioning the stairs down together with his childhood friend, at least as far as the first lance following the rooftop entrance. “I’ll see you later! Wait, are you going to wait for club activities to end or will you go back home first?”

 

“Um… I’ll go back first…” answered Kuroko with a small voice, his eyes slightly downcast. “I need to go grocery shopping before returning home today.”

 

“Right…” acknowledged Aomine, a deep frown creasing his brows. He motioned his hand forward and gently ruffled the bluenette’s head. “Satsuki and I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning as usual, then.”

 

Kuroko silently waved his hand as he saw Aomine running down the corridor and disappear in a tight corner. Snickers and malicious chuckles soon reached his ears. When he looked sideways, he saw two of his female classmates secretly talking with one another as they cast long, hate-filled glances in his direction. Bullying in Japan wasn’t to be trifled with and bullies from high-end schools were keen on turning a student’s life into Hell just to find some sort of stress reliever.

 

He hastily turned around on his heels and started running down the stairs as fast as he could. His classroom was situated in the first floor, together with all the other classrooms meant for the first years applied under the normal course (he couldn’t play sports, nor was he an honour student so he definitely wasn’t studying at Teikou High School on a scholarship).

 

However, the rushing made Kuroko take a wrong step as he was halfway through the stairs. His foot slipped against the step and his body came tumbling forward, crashing against something else before he came down the stairs in a considerably pained fall.

 

“Ugh…” groaned Kuroko, straightening his sitting position on top of the half soft, half hard cushion that had made the fall a little bit easier on his scrawny body.

 

“Ngh… Are you.........” inquired Akashi Seijuurou, lifting his head slightly from the floor to certifying himself that the female student who had crashed against him in the stairs hadn’t suffered any injuries. However… The hand that he had motioned forward to prevent her from falling directly on top of his torso and head could feel her inexistent breasts through the fabric of her school uniform. Her dishevelled black skirt had been lifted enough to reveal the pair of black boxers underneath. “………okay…?”

 

“…!!!” Kuroko hastily pushed his skirt down, his pale features turning into dark scarlet as he attempted to hide his underwear with one hand and slapped the redhead’s hand away from his chest with the other. He immediately darted to a standing position afterwards, readily running away from that area while keeping his skirt in place.

 

“…”

 

Still at a complete lack of words, Akashi pushed his upper body forward to sit down on the floor while he kept on following the running student with his red eyes. Once the student fully disappeared from sight, he lowered his gaze to the floor, where a student book had been left forgotten.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, a 1st-year student in class 1-5 of the general course… 15 years old, female…” read Akashi when he opened the student book on the first page. He arched an eyebrow slightly. “That wasn’t the lower body of a female.”


	2. The Devil’s Deal

_Oh no… No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening!,_ inwardly screamed Kuroko, his outward semblance as expressionless as usual while he pretended to be listening to the teacher. _That student… He was the new Student Council President, Akashi Seijuurou, wasn’t he? The captain of Aomine-kun’s basketball team… Oh god, please no… What should I do now?_

 

The previous day, Kuroko had had an unexpected incident with the said Student Council President. It seemed that he slipped and fell down the stairs at the exact same moment as Akashi was climbing them. It went without saying that Kuroko came crashing against him and the two of them ended up suffering a glorious fall against the floor. Only that said fall might have resulted in the reveal of his true identity rather than a twisted ankle or a broken bone. It was hard to say which scenario was worse.

 

As he had a quite nice excuse on his sleeve, Kuroko darted out of his classroom as soon as the bell rang and motioned towards the entrance gate as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion. Luckily or not, he had not seen or bumped into Akashi throughout his successful escape. But it was now a new day. Kuroko had no idea if Akashi hadn’t seen anything so he would just leave the fall as a simple accident… or if he had seen more than he should have and would try to find him.

 

 _Good thing I’m a friendless anti-social whose only social interaction happens with Aomine-kun and Momoi-san, who I trust and know would never say or do anything that could hurt me in any way,_ sighed Kuroko in the back of his head. As he wasn’t famous for anything in the school and lacked immensely in sociability, Akashi would probably have a very hard time in finding out who he was. Not to mention, his mother not only passed him her good looks but also an extremely accentuated lack of presence. Even Aomine and Momoi were unable to spot him from a distance, sometimes not even when he was standing right next to them.

 

“…Maybe I’m just making a mountain out of a molehill…” softly breathed Kuroko, his voice so low that not even his neighbours could hear. From the position of their bodies, Akashi most likely hadn’t seen his exposed underwear. And even though he touched his chest area with his hand, there were a lot of flat-chested girls in the world. Kuroko was most likely only overthinking things since it had been such a risky situation. “Yes, everything is going to be okay…”

 

_No, everything is not going to be okay!!!!!!!_

 

“Akashi-san! What brings you to our classroom today?” nearly squealed one of class 1-5’s female students shortly after the lunch break bell had resounded. Soon enough, a group of girls was surrounding the door in hopes to get as close to the Student Council President as they could.

 

“I’ve just come to make a couple of questions to one of your classmates,” said Akashi, a sparkling smile on his lips as he warmly talked to the girl.

 

 _Yup, time to take my leave,_ inwardly mumbled Kuroko, silently getting up from his seat and quickly walking towards the other door to the classroom on the opposite side of the division.

 

“Ah! Kuroko-san, if you could give me a few minutes of your lunch break…” suddenly said Akashi, his gaze spot on the bluenette, who was clearly trying to run away once again. His smile intensified even more, enough to erupt a couple of acute squeals from the group of girls around me. “I would really appreciate it.”

 

 _I am so screwed,_ inwardly cursed Kuroko, awkwardly turning his head around to look at the redhead. A few seconds later, Akashi appeared on the other door, stopping right in front of him. Kuroko immediately looked down to the floor, finding that it had suddenly become an extremely interesting sight and that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

 

“Shall we move to the Student Council room?” suggested Akashi, making way so that the bluenette could exit the classroom and accompany him. “It should provide us with more privacy than talking here in the corridor.”

 

“…” Kuroko silently nodded his head in acknowledgement and slowly fully stepped outside of his classroom, his gaze still lowered towards the floor. When Akashi started walking through the corridor, he followed a couple of steps after him.

 

Kuroko had heard quite a lot about Akashi since he entered Teikou High School. He was the heir of a very wealthy family, which made countless donations to the school throughout the years. Everyone talked about how princely and gentlemanly he was, an extremely kind soul that always helped anyone in need. An honour student who could have entered Teikou with a scholarship but declined, as all he wanted was to experience a regular school life. That’s how he had become the Student Council President even though he was a first-year student like Kuroko.

 

Aomine and Momoi also occasionally talked about him, as all three of them were involved with the basketball club. Aomine more often than not complained about how strict the training was due to the individualised regimens that Akashi created on a weekly basis, but he also voiced quite a lot of times that the team was becoming steadily stronger exactly because of them.

 

Taking all of that into consideration, maybe all that was about to happen was Akashi inquiring about if he had been hurt anywhere due to the fall down the stairs and then ask for an explanation over his true status as a student. He would listen to Kuroko’s explanation on the matter and then nod his head with all the compassion and understanding in the world, promising to keep all of this under wraps from then onwards.

 

Soon enough, both of them found themselves in front of the Student Council. Akashi opened the door and gestured to the bluenette to come in, a gentle smile present in his lips.

 

“I apologise for interfering with your lunch hours,” said Akashi as he closed the door. As he observed the bluenette continuing to walk further inside of the room, he silently locked the door before he also parted ways with it. “I hope you didn’t have any plans that will be ruined at my expense?”

 

“…” At hearing that question, Kuroko silently shook his head with soft movements. The room might have a different type of flooring but my oh my, if it wasn’t something worthy to be observed to the tiniest of details.

 

“Is that so?” acknowledged Akashi with a couple of soft nods of his head. He continued to walk forward, then around the bluenette and stopped there. He leaned his upper body forward and craned his head, taking a peek at Kuroko’s half hidden face. Akashi smiled – not warmly, not in a princely manner; it was pure mischief. “Then mind taking your school uniform off right now?”

 

“…!?” Kuroko reflexively jumped back when those words reached his ears. He raised his head and stared at the redhead with his teal eyes open wide in shock and confusion. With a small voice, he croaked, “Excuse… me?”

 

“Take your school uniform off,” repeated Akashi, completely peeling his mask away. There was no warm, gentle smile on his lips now. Just a cold, serious expression as he continued staring at the bluenette. “Or is it that you want me to do it for you?”

 

Kuroko turned around on his heels and ran in the door’s direction. He lunged his hands towards the knob but when he pushed it, the door refused to open. He tried repeating the motions a couple more times but the result was always the same.

 

“The hard way it is, then,” sighed Akashi, slowly shaking his head in disappointment. He walked over to Kuroko and grabbed him by the wrist, strongly pulling him away from the door and leading him back deeper inside of the room. He could feel the bluenette pulling and yanking his own limb, trying to free himself from his grip by clawing and hitting his arm. But not a single word or sound was coming out of his mouth.

 

Once they reached the Student Council President’s desk, he pulled Kuroko in his direction and then pushed him down against the desk’s surface.

 

“Last opportunity,” said Akashi, strongly pushing the bluenette’s shoulders against the table to prevent him from escaping. “Will you take them off? Or do I need to do it for you?”

 

“…!” Kuroko bit down at his lower lip, glaring at Akashi with as much intensity as he could muster in the midst of his fear. He was a man, for god’s sake, but this situation would affect anyone in the exact same way, independently of their gender. “I-I’ll… take them… off…”

 

“Good,” acknowledged Akashi, his smirk widening even further as he slowly released the bluenette’s shoulders. However, before he could take a single step back to provide Kuroko with space to undress, a fist came flying in his direction and hit him straight on the side of his face.

 

“Did you really think I would say something like that, you bastard!?” yelled Kuroko the moment Akashi’s body came tumbling down on the floor. “Take my clothes off? As if I would undress for a degenerate pervert like you!”

 

“Pffft… Ahahahahahahahaha!" Without any warning, Akashi broke down in laughter. He softly cleaned the dribble of blood going down his burst lip and returned his body to a standing position, his shoulders still shaking a little bit in amusement. “That’s the most literal ‘kettle calling the pot black’ of my entire life.”

 

“You dare to laugh in this sort of situation?” furiously asked Kuroko, his fists once against being clenched tight as he tried to control his rage and not hit Akashi a second time. “This was pure sexual assault! I could have you expelled and ruin your entire life by reporting what you just did!”

 

“Oh? So you’re going to report me and say what?” asked Akashi, tilting his head to the left as he continued smirking mischievously. “That I sexually assaulted you by asking you to take your clothes off and show the male body that you’re hiding underneath a skirt? That you forged your student book by inputting the wrong information in it? That you’re deceiving everyone by making yourself pass as a girl and that I found out about it? Yes, that clearly would ruin _my_ life.”

 

“I… I didn’t forge anything… and I also don’t have any intentions of deceiving anyone…” said Kuroko, his hands now closing around the fabric of his skirt. “I’m not harming anyone or causing any problems either. You’ve found out about me, congratulations. Now could you please ignore all of it and leave me alone? I’ll do the same about what happened inside of this room.”

 

“Are you sure you want to do that?” asked Akashi once again, chuckling softly after. “I’m a ‘degenerate pervert’, right? Wouldn’t it be safer for everyone if you reported me? I may do what I just did to you to another student. And it may be an actual girl next time, who knows?”

 

“You put on the prince farce while in front of others but you’re actually an asshole, aren’t you?” nearly hissed Kuroko, anger bubbling up inside of him once again. It was one thing to pull this kind of crazy, immoral stunt on Kuroko, but to phantom to repeat the same offence on a woman after all the threats that were thrown his way? Akashi definitely was missing a few screws. And worse yet, no one would believe Kuroko if he told them such. He was a friendless anti-social, Akashi was the Student Council President that had earned everyone’s trust as a first-year student. “You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

 

“Yes, that is indeed true,” acknowledged Akashi. He took a step forward and gently ran his fingers through Kuroko’s long light blue strands of hair. “If all you had done was pass by me in the corridors or end up in the same class as me, I would have pegged you as a girl. The two of us really are flour from the same sack, aren’t we?”

 

“Don’t lump me together with you,” growled Kuroko, slapping Akashi’s hand away. “I don’t go around abusing other people just because I don’t have anything better to do. All I want is to spend the next three years in peace and quiet and then graduate. That kind of school life seems to be too boring for you, though.”

 

“Again, you are spot on,” chuckled Akashi, slowly dropping his hand back to the side of his body.  “I wish for a completely normal school life. But it seems my personality isn’t quite in agreement with it. If I find something interesting or amusing around me, I have this desperate urge to satisfy my hunger for the ‘abnormal school life’ with it. It’s not just your looks that are a diamond in the rough. Your entire presence in this school is.”

 

 _I’m not liking where this is going…,_ inwardly groaned Kuroko, silently gulping down hard when the redhead leaned his body closer to him once again.

 

“So as to not keep me bored… Let’s see…” said Akashi, smiling at the bluenette. It was still the same evil, almost sadistic smile though. “Why don’t we go on a date this Sunday?”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, his mouth hanging slightly open for a few seconds as he processed the redhead’s words in his brain.

 

“If you satisfy my hunger, then I won’t need to seek someone else to do it,” explained Akashi. He gave a quick shrug to his shoulders. “It’s a good trade, isn’t it? I get to keep an interesting person around me. You get to keep your secret a secret while protecting every single girl in this school. Let’s enjoy a peaceful and quiet school life for the next three years, until graduation day. Together, obviously.”

 

“You are the worst type of scum,” spat Kuroko, a deep frown on his features. “Aren’t you scared that all of this will one day come to bite you in the ass?”

 

“I’ll be sure to keep my ass safe and sound,” chuckled Akashi as he straightened his body and started to walk around the desk so as to reach his chair. “You should do the same, Kuroko.”


	3. Shield, Sword or Poison?

“You’re going on a what with who!?” yelped Aomine, spitting out the coke he had been drinking. He put the plastic cup back on the table and picked up a few napkins so as to wipe his mouth. He could care less about the now dirty table – the employees of Maji Burger could take care of that later. There were more pressing matters for him to solve.

 

“I’m going on a date with Akashi Seijuurou,” bitterly repeated Kuroko, a small frown present on his brows as he once again led the straw to his mouth and slurped down on his vanilla milkshake. Even his favourite sugary drink wasn’t being enough to sweeten his current bad mood.

 

“Wha—!? H-How the fuck did that happen!?” babbled Aomine, his brain spinning around as he couldn’t quite follow with all of these sudden announcements and news. “I-I didn’t even know you two were acquainted with each other! And what do you mean by ‘a date’? You’re a guy! Why are you going on a date with another guy? Did he invite you out because he thinks you’re a girl? Then why didn’t you refuse him? Trying to nab a rich guy for yourself now?”

 

“Aomine-kun, please calm down,” sighed Kuroko. He put the plastic cup back on the table and lightly played around with it with the pads of his fingers. “Yesterday, he accidentally discovered that I’m actually male.”

 

“Right…” hesitantly acknowledge Aomine, giving a small nod with his head as an eyebrow started to arch. “And how did that lead to you two going on a date?”

 

“That’s a very good question,” said Kuroko, his voice completely void of life and features as dark as that of the grim reaper. His hand wrapped itself around the plastic cup, which was violently squeezed and bent inward. “Probably because he’s the worst kind of scum in the world? Or maybe simply someone who’s about to get *beep* because I sure feel like to *beep* his *beep* during our date.”

 

_ I-It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen Tetsu this angry…, _ inwardly squeaked Aomine, gulping down hard as he observed the seething bluenette. He lightly cleared his throat and uncomfortably shifted his body on his seat. “So, care to explain from the start once again or will you just continue to shout profanities with your cute face?”

 

“As I was saying, Akashi-kun discovered that I’m male yesterday,” sighed Kuroko, trying to straighten his milkshake cup a little bit. “I sort of fell down the stairs after parting ways with you during lunch break. Akashi-kun became my cushion during the fall… and ended up seeing what was underneath my skirt, I guess…”

 

“Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!” Aomine burst out laughing at that explanation, repeatedly tapping his hand on the table as his body shook around in amusement. After a good couple of minutes, he finally managed to calm himself down enough to actually speak. “So… Pfft… How did seeing what is hidden underneath of your skirt lead you to go on a date?”

 

“That bastard is blackmailing me,” said Kuroko, his grim reaper expression returning to his features as he unconsciously squeezed his milkshake cup once again. This time, the fresh white beverage burst out free from the cup. “If I don’t become his source of amusement and ‘abnormal school life’ for the next three years, he’ll reveal my identity to the entire school. And will do some other things…”

 

Kuroko would have really liked to also share and complain about the attempted sexual assault, but he knew Aomine extremely well. It wouldn’t be Kuroko the one expelled from Teikou, Aomine would get himself arrested for Akashi’s murder. Besides, if someone was to kill Akashi, he wanted to have the privilege of doing it with his own hands.

 

“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Akashi Seijuurou here? He’s not the type of person that blackmails others,” pointed out Aomine as he closely observed the bluenette. “Yeah, sure, I’m not one of his super close buddies, but I’ve spent enough time with him to know that he’s a down-to-earth, serious guy who will offer anyone a helping hand even if they don’t ask for one.”

 

“And am I the sort of person who will fabricate bad things about others?” asked back Kuroko, a small frown popping out on his brows. “Especially accusations as grave as these ones?”

 

“No, you’re definitely not,” sighed Aomine, softly scratching the back of his head as he tried to make sense about this unexpected situation. As he continued observing Kuroko, he nearly jumped out of his seat out of the blue. Kuroko was releasing the broken plastic cup and motioning his hand, covered in the sticky milky beverage, to his mouth. He immediately grabbed the remained of napkins and slammed them against Kuroko’s hand. “Use napkins, for fuck’s sake! Do you want to add stalkers and more perverts to your problem list!?”

 

“…” Kuroko simply rolled his eyes around and grabbed to the napkins with his clean hand. He quickly worked his way around with the cleaning process and then resumed with the conversation. “Akashi-kun may put the façade of a prince in shining armour in front of everyone, but he’s definitely more of a demon than royalty. Whatever it is that you think you know about him, throw it all away and replace with ‘first-grade asshole that everyone should avoid’.”

 

“Wow, he really has gotten under your skin…” said Aomine, slightly surprised of how antagonistic Kuroko was being over another person. He was usually the type that always gave the benefit of doubt and saw the good side of everyone, even if they clearly didn’t deserve such nice treatment. And yet, here he was, mouthing his way off with complaints about Akashi. “You’re usually nicer to people, even if you dislike them.”

 

“We just had that bad of a first meeting, I guess,” sighed Kuroko, now feeling slightly ashamed of himself. Aomine had his own opinion of Akashi and knew and interacted with him for much longer than Kuroko. Maybe it was a bit of a stretch to complain so vehemently to him about someone who Aomine trusted.

 

“And after all of this that you’re saying, you’re still going on a date with him?” asked Aomine, an eyebrow propping up on his brows.

 

“I don’t have any other choice, do I?” asked back Kuroko, releasing another tired sigh. He was about to motion the cup to his mouth when he remembered that the remainder milkshake had been squeezed out to his hands and table. He sighed again.

 

“Why don’t you talk with your uncle about this?” suggested Aomine, picking up the hamburger he had left half-finished at the time this conversation had started. “Shirogane-san might help you out of this situation. Like, he could talk with Akashi and explain to him why you’re doing what you’re doing, in a way that doesn’t intrude too much in your private life. Besides, if Akashi knew that Teikou’s Headmaster knows about your true gender, it might put a lid on his amusement and make him give up on blackmailing you with it.”

 

“Shirogane-san already helped me and my father plenty throughout these three years,” said Kuroko, his nose twisting a little bit. “Asking him for even more, when I was the one who messed up and caused this problem in the first place, would be too much. He’s my uncle, yes, but only in second degree. He was my mother’s uncle, not  _ my _ uncle. He might even think that he has repaid everything he owed his niece and not want to involve himself even further with me and my father.”

 

“That’s bullshit and you know it, Tetsu,” groaned Aomine, rolling his eyes around in exasperation. “Shirogane-san is a cool old dude. If you ask for his help, whatever it may be about, I’m pretty sure he would do anything within his possibilities to help you. You see, you’re the kind of cute guy who can ignite a deep protectiveness from anyone you come across. Maybe even—“

 

“If you’re about to say that even Akashi-kun is trying to protect me in his own way, you better swallow those words right this moment, Aomine Daiki,” warned Kuroko, his teal gaze tightening just a little bit to a small glare. “Threats and manipulations are not shields, they’re swords that can pierce the heart of others.”

 

“What about lies then?” asked Aomine, his expression suddenly growing dead serious. “Are lies a shield? Or a poison that kills everyone extremely slowly, even the poisoner?”

 

“…” Kuroko would have liked to throw something back at those words, but he found himself unable to speak. It was as if Aomine’s question had stuffed a large rock inside of his throat, one that he couldn’t swallow any way he tried. The rock was that large and heavy. He suddenly got up from his seat. “I’ll be getting another milkshake. I’ll be right back.”

 

_ No matter for how long you run away from it, the truth will always eventually catch up with you, Tetsu, _ inwardly sighed Aomine, taking another bite of his hamburger while following the bluenette with his dark blue eyes.  _ You’ve spent three years of your life doing this stupid farce. I guess the universe is telling you it’s time to put an end to it. _


	4. Bickering

At the beginning of that week, the school was one of the few refugees Kuroko had in order to escape from his home situation. Yes, he still had to dress a female school uniform while in there, but he at least had the freedom to behave as his usual self.

 

If he wanted to quietly read a book, he could do so. If he wanted to take a nap in the middle of classes while misdirecting, he could do so. Kuroko didn’t need to force himself to smile, to act sweet and gentle, to pretend to worry about that which he resented and scorned.

 

Even though Kuroko was forced to wear a skirt, wasn’t allowed to speak very loudly due to his male voice and had become a constant target to bullying… he still liked going to school.

 

Until two days ago.

 

“My, this is quite the surprise once again!” yelped one of Kuroko’s female classmates, her eyes nearly going heart-shaped when she recognised the student standing in front of the classroom’s door. “Akashi-sama, what brings you to our classroom two days in a row?”

 

“Well, I must give you the same answer as yesterday, I’m afraid,” said Akashi, a charming smile on his lips as he looked over to the female student. “I’m here to get one of your classmates so that today we can enjoy some lunch together. You won’t say no to me again, will you, Kuroko-san?”

 

“...” Kuroko silently turned around on his seat so he could look over to Akashi. His face remained as blank and expressionless as always, but he was inwardly cursing the redhead’s existence to all gods that he could momentarily think of. Momoi always had such great timing, so why exactly this was the second day in a row that she was failing him?

 

“Are you perhaps busy once again today?” asked Akashi, a disappointed look on his features as he stepped inside of the classroom and walked towards the bluenette’s desk. “It would be such a pity if I had to spend my lunch break alone today too… And I’m sure it would be quite rude to you if I had lunch together with someone else.”

 

_ You schemey little…!, _ inwardly cursed Kuroko, a small glare popping out on his teal eyes. He looked down to the floor and released a soundless sigh, forcing himself to nod his head in agreement after having bottled up a refusal deep inside.

 

“Shall we go, then?” inquired Akashi, all smiles once again as he gestured towards the door and urged Kuroko to step forward first. Once the bluenette got up from his seat and started walking towards the door, he directed his next words to the awestruck students. “I hope you all have a good lunch break too.”

 

Akashi and Kuroko silently walked side by side in the packed corridors, arousing surprised and shocked glances and whispers out of nearly every student they passed by. Akashi had a satisfied smile on his lips, greeting every now and then the students who he personally knew. Kuroko walked while staring at the floor, this time trying to find anything in there that he could use to stab or maim the redhead with.

 

“Tetsu-chan, there you are~!!” suddenly said a cheerful voice. Kuroko came to a halt at it and readily turned his head around, his teal eyes glistening with hopes of salvation. Momoi was running over in his direction while happily waving her hand around above her head. “Geez, I just went to your classroom and you were nowhere to be seen! Why didn’t you wait there for me like usu- Oh, hello, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Hello, Momoi,” greeted Akashi back, offering a small smile to the pink haired girl while he closely studied her and the bluenette’s stances. “Are you also an acquaintance of Kuroko-san?”

 

“Um…” hesitantly started Momoi, quickly exchanging worried glances between Akashi and Kuroko. She was searching for some sort of visual clue to what exactly was happening but it went without saying that the bluenette’s semblance remained as expressionless as usual. There was just nothing in this world that could break Kuroko Tetsuya’s poker face. “We’re childhood friends… What about you, Akashi-kun? I also didn’t know you were friends with Tetsu-chan…?”

 

“Oh yeah, those two have a really interesting thing going on around them,” barked a sudden male voice in laughter. Aomine soon popped out of the classroom they had stopped right in front of, covering a large yawn with one of his tanned hands. He then leaned his shoulder in the door’s frame, his arms crossed over his chest.

 

_ I should have known that the abridged version of this situation would amuse Aomine-kun more than worry him…, _ inwardly sighed Kuroko, wishing he could facepalm himself at that moment. On their way back home after school, he would make sure to admonish him plenty, maybe even strike a gut punch or two.

 

“Another acquaintance?” asked Akashi, the same smile still present on his face as he switched his gaze to Aomine - even though there had been a momentary small frown creasing his brows.

 

“Yeah, you could call it that,” said Aomine, a mischievous smirk twisting the corner of his lips upwards. He suddenly stretched his arms over his head and started walking outside of his classroom, motioning in Momoi’s direction. “Satsuki, let’s go. Today it’s just you and me having lunch in the usual spot.”

 

“Eh? Eh? Wait, what?” babbled Momoi, still not understanding what was happening. She kept glancing back and forth to Aomine and Kuroko, as the former started pushing her towards the opposite end of the corridor. “B-But what about Tetsu-chan…?”

 

“Tetsu’s fine,” said Aomine, trying to dismiss Momoi’s worries by not sounding very worried about this situation himself. He truly wasn’t worried, but there was still a small reticence nagging at him in the back of his mind that he was trying to ignore at all costs. “Tetsu is just about to give Akashi a small taste of the hell he’ll experience this Sunday.”

 

“You have more allies around you than I expected…” suddenly sighed Akashi, as soon as both Aomine and Momoi had disappeared after having changed to another corridor on that floor. “Acting the way you do, I thought you were completely friendless. It seems I was wrong.”

 

“What use is there in having allies when they so easily throw me aside at the smallest sign of danger…?” softly mumbled Kuroko so as that his voice wouldn’t reach any ears except Akashi’s.

 

“You told Aomine about what happened yesterday and the day before?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he looked sideways at Kuroko. “Quite the blabbermouth you are…”

 

“I am so very sorry if that ruined your plans of conquering the world with that fake personality of yours,” deadpanned Kuroko, looking straight at Akashi’s eyes.

 

“I would have been happy with Japan alone, but if you insist,” chuckled Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. They resumed with their walking. “So, how much did you tell him?”

 

“As I am a truly kind person, unlike you, I saved you from the embarrassment of the forcible undressing scene,” answered Kuroko, keeping the redhead under his gaze by sideways glancing at him. “I can’t say the same for everything else, though.”

 

“Is that so?” acknowledged Akashi with a small nod of his head. The moment the corridor got completely void of students, it was also the moment that Akashi’s smiling expression disappeared from his face to be replaced by the previous day’s mischievousness. “Should I also let some people in your secret?”

 

“...!” Kuroko came to a second halt at that question, his teal eyes opening wide in shock as he stared in disbelief at Akashi. “You wouldn’t…”

 

“Yes, I would. If that would put you in your place, I would,” announced Akashi, his smirk widening even further. “Others knowing about our little ‘exchange’, especially those on your side, would be far too inconvenient to me. Momoi is your childhood friend and, making the sums, I take it that Aomine is the same. I think it’s quite obvious that, knowing you for such a long time, they also know about you being male. You’re starting to cheat, Kuroko, and it’s no fun if only one of the teams plays dirty. Especially in such an early stage of the game.”

 

“I-I told Aomine-kun about it, yes, but Momoi-san doesn’t know anything about it and it will remain like that unless Aomine-kun tells her himself,” tried Kuroko, his mouth suddenly going dry. Aomine had been wrong, so very wrong - letting Akashi know that Kuroko had people on his side, aware of both his life circumstances and the current ‘exchange’ with Akashi, would  _ not _ put a damper on his amusement. It would spur him to do worse. “Besides, as they know what my true gender is and that I don’t associate myself with anyone else except them, they would have suspected that something was going around if I suddenly started… hanging out with you.”

 

“No matter what sort of excuses you try to offer, Kuroko, what is done is done,” sighed Akashi, his head shaking just the slightest in disappointment. “You broke the rules. You need to suffer the penalty for it.”

 

“As far as I’m aware, there weren’t any ‘rules’ the last time I talked with you,” pointed out Kuroko, a small frown creasing his brows. “Aren’t you starting to blow this out of proportion, Akashi-kun? You keep my secret a secret, I entertain you for the next three years. That’s all there is to it. Please don’t try to make things more complicated than they should be.”

 

“My, you truly know how to pull unexpected cards out of your sleeve,” chuckled Akashi, his smirk softening a little bit in the midst of his amusement. “That’s true, that was indeed the agreement. I’m no demon, contrary to your expectations, so I’ll just leave it at that. Besides, I lied when I said that others knowing about our ‘exchange’ would interfere with it. I hope you have not forgotten that I am the Student Council President. I have my ways of getting the two of them, or anyone else for that matter, so busy they will not have enough time to come to your rescue and ruin my plans.”

 

“That’s an abuse of power,” nearly hissed Kuroko, his eyes tightening into slits as he closely glared at Akashi. “Leave them out of this, they have nothing to do with it. Didn’t Aomine-kun just let you do whatever you wanted and leave?”

 

“And what you did with Aomine was defamation,” pointed out Akashi, with a quick shrug. “I guess we’re both equally guilty now.”

 

“It’s not defamation if what I told him was the truth,” countered Kuroko.

 

“And it’s not an abuse of power if I give them as much work as they should be responsible for,” countered back Akashi, not allowing Kuroko to score a single point. Though, in all fairness, he had yet to score one himself.

 

“Could you please… just… Could you please stop trying to find a retort to everything I say?” exasperatedly sighed Kuroko, suddenly feeling so tired that he didn’t feel like having lunch anymore. All he wanted was to go back to his classroom, sit down on his desk and take an extended nap so as to forget all about this.

 

“In case you have not noticed, Kuroko, I am just paying you back with the same coin,” pointed out Akashi, after having chuckled softly.

 

“You’re surprisingly childish, Akashi-kun,” sighed Kuroko once again, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest. He had enough already, might as well just raise the white flag and put a stop to it once and for all.

 

“Maybe you’re the one blowing things out of proportion and taking it more seriously than you should,” said Akashi while giving a quick shrug. When he saw the complete blank that Kuroko’s face became, he had to bite down a laugh. “Yes, yes, I’m childish. Now that we have both had our daily dose of surprises, why don’t we move to the lunch part? Our lunch break is not big enough for us to be spending our time bickering here.”

 

“You call it ‘bickering’, I call it ‘be at each other’s throats’,” deadpanned Kuroko as soon as Akashi finished that sentence. Part of him regretted it afterwards, as it made him realise that Akashi’s words held some truth to them.

 

“Now I understand what Aomine meant by giving me a taste of hell,” chuckled Akashi. “Maybe we should change our lunch location to somewhere other than the cafeteria. I like it better when you can talk.”

 

“I will never again step inside of the Student Council room while alone with you,” warned Kuroko, throwing a sideways glance at Akashi when both of them started crossing the corridor once again.

 

“Is that so?” said Akashi, also throwing a sideways glance at Kuroko. Another mischievous smirk popped out on his lips. “I’ll let you choose, then. Option A is eating with me in the Student Council room. Option B is allowing me to witness in first person how you take care of your body waste while at school. I really do wonder which bathroom you choose to step inside to take care of your business. There’s no option C and abstaining yourself from choosing will make option B valid by default.”

 

“I hate you so much…” groaned Kuroko, feeling a sudden urge to start strangling Akashi right there and then. He could care less about witnesses or first-degree murder, he just wanted the redhead to have a taste of the true hell for all eternity.

 

“I see, so it’s option-”

 

“A! Option A!” readily said Kuroko, cutting off Akashi’s words before he could send him to a temporary hell of shame and self-loathing.

 

“Good job,” congratulated Akashi, gently ruffling Kuroko’s head while smiling. Not his sadistic smirk… but it also wasn’t the fake smile he paraded around the school grounds with. “I think you just earned yourself a treat.”

 

“Downgraded to the status of a pet now?” deadpanned Kuroko, trying to keep the rolling of his eyes in his imagination only. That and the smile he had momentarily seen.

 

“My pets would have to be extremely well behaved and obedient,” said Akashi, quickly removing his hand from the bluenette’s head before he could strike at him like he had done the previous day. He could still feel the tiny scar that the punch had left in his lip. “Those are two traits that you’re severely lacking.”

  
_ But it’s exactly the lack of them that makes you so interesting to have around, _ inwardly added Akashi, chuckling softly as he continued listening to Kuroko’s complaints and retorts.  _ Money can buy pets and toys. But true entertainment isn’t something that can be bought with money. Only perfect compatibility is able to lead to it. _


	5. Warning

“I’ve finished sorting out and labelling what goes where so I’ll be going to basketball practice now,” announced Akashi, closing the laptop on his desk and getting up from his chair. He walked around his working desk in the Student Council room and picked up his school bag on his way to the door. “Don’t slack off while I’m not around. I hope you’ll get all of those done today and don’t get sidetracked by those light novel of yours, Mayuzumi-san.”

 

“Who’s the senpai here?” grumbled Mayuzumi Chihiro, lifting his eyes from the folder open in front of him so he could glare at the redhead.

 

“Who’s the Student Council President here?” asked back Akashi, a smug expression on his features as he stopped next to the door.

 

“You are the most aggravating brat that I had the displeasure to meet in my entire life,” sighed Mayuzumi, returning his eyes back to the pages being stored in that folder. “Maybe I should get obsessed with Oha Asa like that guy from your basketball team is. Usually, the main characters that follow fortune telling and prophecies are able to successfully get rid of the roadblocks 100% of the time.”

 

“This is the first time I hear you calling yourself the main character,” pointed out Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched at those unexpected words.

 

“I’m the main character of my own life, that’s what it means,” said Mayuzumi, rolling his eyes around. “And since we’re on the topic, you’re one of the main antagonists in it. Now scram and go play with those balls of yours.”

 

“You’ll definitely die due to high blood pressure,” sighed Akashi as he opened the office’s door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mayuzumi-san. And remember… I will know if you’ve read any of those novels when you’re supposed to be working.”

 

Akashi stepped outside of the Student Council office and closed the door behind himself, ignoring completely how Mayuzumi flipped him the bird as he left. Waiting outside, however, was an unexpected visitor.

 

“Aomine,” said Akashi as he observed the tanned male leaning his back on the wall next to the Student Council room’s door. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the club room getting ready for practice?”

 

“Yeah, but I need to have a word with you first,” sighed Aomine, scratching the back of his head as he departed his back from the wall. “Tetsu already has quite a lot of problems at home, he doesn’t have any space on his list to add yours there.”

 

“...!” Without any warning, Aomine grabbed Akashi by the knot of his necktie and pushed him against the Student Council room’s door, his back painfully crashing against its hard wood.

 

“If you cross the line with him, I’ll fucking kill you,” warned Aomine, glaring daggers at the redhead as he kept on pressing him as strongly as possible against the door with his grip on the necktie.

 

“You would risk ruining your possible basketball career for him?” inquired Akashi, not at all fazed by the rough handling he was being subjected to.

 

“I would,” confessed Aomine, tightening his grip on Akashi’s necktie even more. “And I would have done it by now if I didn’t know better than to bring Tetsu even more heartbreak.”

 

“Heartbreak?” repeated Akashi, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Well, it sure sets my mind at ease to know that I’m not the first entry in your murder list. Kuroko hates my guts, he would be far from sad if I was declared dead.”

 

“Hah, Tetsu really has a gift when it comes to figuring out other people’s true character,” snorted Aomine, releasing Akashi’s necktie with a yank. He took a couple of steps backwards and then stretched his arms over his head with sluggish movements. “But well, you being around him is not that bad. I far prefer to hear him spouting profanities left and right about you and how much he wants to cut your dick off this Sunday than to see him moping around all depressed as if a ghost.”

 

“I’ll add that one to the list of body parts I should take close attention to during our date.” acknowledged Akashi, neatly adjusting his school uniform once again. “What brought about such a sudden change of heart?”

 

“You’ll be a good distraction for him, it’s just that,” said Aomine, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “If you’re annoying him, his mind will be too busy cursing at you to focus on other stuff. That’s something he really needs. But my warning is still on. If you start taking it too far and your teasing becomes bullying, I’ll end you. Having the Student Council President as the head of the bully group is the last thing I want to see happening to Tetsu.”

 

“If my word still holds any value to you, bullying is not a hobby of mine,” pointed out Akashi, softly shaking his head in denial. “I won’t deny any accusation that Kuroko might have done about me to you, as I’ve come to realise that he’s honest and fair by default. I’m certain that bully wasn’t one of the things he has called me, though.”

 

“Nah, just a bunch of other crap,” dismissed Aomine with a wave of his hand. “But there might have been some exaggeration in his words. I have no idea of what the heck you did or said to him, but saying he hates your guts is an understatement. You really should keep a lookout on your dick. Tetsu hates to lose and I think that’s what’s making him so pissy at you.”

 

“That’s a quite valuable piece of information,” said Akashi, his brain readily entering into thinking mode at those words. “Honest, fair and hates to lose. Now I see. Thank you, Aomine.”

 

“You’re… a quite peculiar one…” mumbled Aomine, an eyebrow slightly arched as he closely observed Akashi. “Tetsu is probably too angry right now to see it, but you don’t really have any bad intentions with all of that teasing and blackmail, do you? Wrong hobby and method, though.”

 

“I’ve heard people calling me a ‘demon’ and ‘antagonist’ my entire life,” sighed Akashi, giving a small shrug with his shoulders afterwards. “If light causes shadows, then shadows will make the light more noteworthy. Most people just end up focusing on the shadows when there’s too much light and they’re surrounded by their own problems, though. With such large mountains surrounding them and with such a bright sun shining all over the place, of course they would think they are going to be swallowed by the shadows. So I can’t really blame them for thinking that I’m the bad guy.”

 

“Right…” hesitantly acknowledged Aomine, not fully understanding what exactly the redhead was talking about.

 

“But I’m not all sunshine and sparkles either,” added Akashi, a smirk popping out on his features all of a sudden. “I won’t deny that it isn’t quite pleasurable and extremely entertaining to torment Kuroko with every single sentence I say.”

 

“Shit, your hobbies really are the worst!” cursed Aomine, slightly taken aback by that sudden shocking confession. “Argh, I’ve had enough for today! I’m going to the club room and get ready for practice!!!”

 

“This will not interfere with the basketball practices, I take it?” asked Akashi as he observed Aomine furiously stomping away through the corridor.

 

“It won’t, it won’t,” reassured Aomine, waving his hand around at Akashi as he continued to walk away. “But you’re in charge of dealing with Satsuki. She’s too much of a pain in the ass for me!”

 

_ So Kuroko grew up surrounded by this colourful duo, huh…, _ inwardly mumbled Akashi, not making any attempts to depart from in front of the Student Council room’s door as he continued following Aomine with his eyes. _ That actually explains quite a lot. Though not everything, I’m afraid. _

 

Deciding that it wasn’t quite worth it to delve into thoughts of such depth at the moment, Akashi picked up his fallen school bag and started crossing the same path through where Aomine had stormed off.

 

As it was time for club activities, the corridors were nearly desert. Those who had extracurricular activities were inside of their corresponding club rooms and those who didn’t were on their way home or walking towards their tutoring centres. Maybe a very small percentage was having fun in the shopping district.

 

The desert corridors made Akashi suddenly wonder where exactly was Kuroko at that moment.

 

Unable to speak with those that did not know his secret and perpetually anxious over his true gender being revealed to anyone, Akashi doubted that Kuroko belonged to any school club. Actually, he doubted Kuroko could even partake in the PE classes. He most likely had gotten some sort of medical statement to be exempted from that class.

 

And then there was another matter. He already had a small suspicion of such, taking his classmates’ reaction during the two times he had gone to Kuroko’s classroom, but Aomine had just confirmed it. They most likely had made an outcast out of Kuroko, which had eventually lead to the current bullying situation. Society did have the tendency to reject anything or anyone that was different, no matter the degree or severity of the abnormality.

 

_ That’s why humanity will not last as it is right now, _ inwardly snorted Akashi.  _ Humans value mass production over uniqueness now. Most of us still haven’t realised that the mould has some deformities to it so defect products will pop up every now and then. We still haven’t come to the conclusion that it’s the defects that need to be kept and that the mould should be thrown away. We’ve far outgrown the stage of everyone being the same way, thinking the same way and acting the same way. _

 

Akashi wasn’t one of them, though. He far preferred to deal with others’ abnormalities rather than having to conform himself to the world’s expectations and squeeze in to fit with all the mass produced human copies. His own abnormality was what usually led people to misunderstand his actions and interpret him as an evil entity. Exactly what was happening with Kuroko at the moment.

 

_ Though Kuroko is also to blame, _ said Akashi in the back of his mind, softly chuckling at the sudden reminiscing of their lunch session in the Student Council room.  _ He’s just so much fun to tease that I can’t help myself and end up pushing it a bit too far. If he barked less, I wouldn’t bite him so much. Then again, I would have eventually found a way of putting him barking his lungs out, so it’s hard to say which case would be more interesting to observe. _

 

The question that remained was… how much had the bullying escalated since the beginning of the school year?

 

“And it seems I just got myself an answer…” softly whispered Akashi as he came to a stop in front of one of the windows siding the corridor. The window had a perfectly open view to one of the small inner backyard gardens that sporadically popped out around Teikou High School’s buildings. And it was exactly in one of those small gardens that a group of students had surrounded another student, one with long blue locks of hair.

 

Kuroko was down on the ground on his knees, the group of students surrounding him on all sides as they threw jeers and mocking words at him. One of the female students, which Akashi could readily recognise as one of Kuroko’s classmates, was blatantly stabbing the heel of her shoe on one of Kuroko’s hands. However, even with all of the verbal and physical abuse, Kuroko nothing did and just remained motionless on the ground.

 

“You can so easily have a row against me, the Student Council President, but you’re not able to take a stand for yourself against a measly group of bullies?” asked Akashi to no one in particular, a deep frown creasing his brows. “That’s not the Kuroko I know.”

 

Akashi turned around on his heels and walked away from the window. He opened the door to the closest classroom, conveniently one of the rooms used for science classes, and made a beeline to one of the cupboards.

 

“Everyone has room to grow, though,” said Akashi, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he opened the cupboard’s glass door and took one of the empty glass flasks being neatly stored inside. “Be it Kuroko, be it the bullies.”

 

He closed the cupboard’s glass door. He walked outside of the classroom and closed the door behind himself. He returned to near the same window and opened it, the gentle mid-afternoon breeze licking his red locks and features.

 

_ Crash! _

 

_ “Kyahhh! W-What was that just now!?” _

 

“Everyone has room to grow,” said Akashi, walking down the corridor while accompanied by the soft breeze of the open window and the panicky screams and shrieks coming from the small garden outside. “If they don’t, they have signed themselves to be scraped out at their own due time.”

 

_ And it’s not going to be you, is it, Kuroko? Because you’re honest, fair and hate to lose. You’re one of the defects and, like me, you won’t let the human copies stand in your way. Well, at least for as long as glass flasks keep flying out of windows all on their own, hehehe... _


	6. Trap

“Good evening, everyone,” greeted Akashi as he opened the door to class 1-5’s classroom. A bright smile could be found on his lips as he quickly ran his red eyes through the entirety of the classroom. As if it had already become second nature to him, he fully stepped inside the room and walked over to one of the desks near the windows. “Good evening, Kuroko-san. Shall we go have lunch?”

 

“...” This time, Kuroko didn’t argue back inwardly with himself nor did he glare at Akashi. He simply got up from his seat with a silent sigh and positioned himself next to the redhead. After three consecutive days, anyone would get used to any sort of situation, even if a hateful one.

 

The classroom was nearly in total silence as Kuroko’s classmates observed them walking towards the door side by side.

 

“...U-Um, Akashi-sama…!” suddenly spoke one of the female students, taking a step forward in his direction. When Akashi looked over in her direction, his head slightly tilted in wonder, she awkwardly cleared her throat and proceeded, “This is the third day you come here… because of her. I wasn’t aware that Kuroko-san had joined the Student Council.”

 

“And she hasn’t joined the Student Council,” answered Akashi, straightening his stance once again. When he saw the female student arch an eyebrow in suspicion, he had to control himself to not let a mischievous smirk slip onto his face. He walked closer to Kuroko and hugged him by behind, leaning his chin over one of his shoulders. “We’re in the honeymoon period right now. Is it bad or weird of me to visit my girlfriend every lunch break so we can spend some more time together?”

 

Once again, the classroom was flooded in silence for brief seconds, before most of the students inside started breaking into shocked gasps and remarks.

 

_ I want to die, _ inwardly groaned Kuroko, his face as expressionless as a rock could get. He tried to elbow Akashi’s stomach but he had strategically put his arms over his while hugging him from behind, making Kuroko completely unable to move them around. Akashi probably had predicted that he would try to hit him in some sort of way.  _ I want to die but first I’ll make sure that Akashi-kun goes to hell ahead of me. _

 

“G-Girlfriend…!?” nearly chocked the female student, her eyes almost jumping out of their sockets in shock. “But…!”

 

“Kuroko-san, what happened to your hand?” gasped Akashi in fake surprise as he released Kuroko’s torso and gently lifted one of his hands. The pale hand that he had seen being violently abused the previous day was covered in dark blue and purple bruises. He lifted his eyes from Kuroko’s limb and glanced over to his classmates, a deep frown creasing his features. “It’s almost as if someone repeatedly stepped on it.”

 

“...!!” A collective shudder was shared between all of the students inside of class 1-5’s classroom at that moment, some of the girls actually gasping in fear.

 

“Have you had it checked in the hospital or, at the very least, in the nurse’s office?” worriedly inquired Akashi, exchanging quick glances between Kuroko and his bruised hand. With masked motions, he turned Kuroko’s back to his classmates, so that they couldn’t notice his slightly confused semblance, and continued in a one-man play. “You didn’t? ...Kuroko-san, how do you expect me to unglue myself from you when you’re such a clumsy one? Let’s get your hand checked in the nurse’s office, okay?”

 

With that, Akashi led the still dumbstruck bluenette by the hand to the door, offering afterwards a quick small smile to his classmates as he closed the classroom’s door behind himself.

 

“Yesterday, that was you, wasn’t it?” whispered Kuroko, finally breaking himself out of his stupefaction. It hadn’t been Akashi proclaiming him as his ‘girlfriend’ or how he had so intimately touched him in front of everyone that had surprised him so much - it had been his attitude towards his classmates.

 

“I do not know what you’re talking about,” answered Akashi, feigning ignorance as he kept leading the bluenette to the nurse’s office.

 

“Only someone like you would think that it would be a good idea to throw a glass flask from the second floor at a group of unsuspecting students,” deadpanned Kuroko, sideways glancing at the redhead.

 

“My ‘girlfriend’ knows me so well. I feel touched,” chuckled Akashi, which gained him a furious glare from Kuroko. “However, not well enough to understand everything about me. You’re too  naive, Kuroko.”

 

“Where did that one come from?” asked Kuroko in a whisper, an eyebrow slightly arched in incomprehension. He didn’t obtain any answer from Akashi so part of him wondered if his voice hadn’t been loud enough for him to hear. However, Akashi’s expression told him otherwise. What exactly, he wasn’t quite sure himself.

 

Soon enough they reached the nurse’s office, the sign ‘On lunch break’ stuck to the opaque glass of the sliding door’s square window. Akashi took a set of keys from his pants’ pocket and inserted one of them in the small keyhole, a soft  _ ka-ching _ reaching their ears when the door was unlocked.

 

“Perfect, this way we can talk normally without any disturbances,” said Akashi, more to himself than to Kuroko. He gestured towards the empty insides of the nurse’s office and urged the bluenette to step inside.

 

Once again without throwing any complaints, Kuroko did as he was being told and walked inside of the nurse’s office. He gave a quick glance around his surroundings, as he had never stepped inside of Teikou High School’s nurse’s office, and then slowly motioned towards the stool next to the nurse’s desk.

 

“Did you at least put ice in it once you arrived home?” asked Akashi, closing the door behind himself and motioning to the cupboards filled with medical instruments and treatment materials. He saw through the corner of his eyes Kuroko shaking his head in denial. “Your male personality will chew my head off because of every little thing I say but it seems your female persona is a masochist.”

 

“I’m sick and tired of being angry every single day, Akashi-kun, so please don’t try me,” warned Kuroko, sideways glaring at the redhead. “Please just mind your own business and don’t interfere with my life more than you have to.”

 

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” said Akashi, walking to the nurse’s desk with a small piece of bandage and cream to rub on the bruise. He snorted. “Oh but in your eyes, I’m just walking garbage that enjoys tormenting others, aren’t I?”

 

“...”

 

“Did you think I would just ignore it if I saw a group of people ganging up against one single individual?” inquired Akashi as he put down the treatment materials on the desk and sat down on the empty stool in front of Kuroko. “Come on, Kuroko, my personality is not that bad.”

 

“You sure are good at making it seem such, then, Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko, hesitantly motioning his bruised hand forward and slowly placing it on top of the redhead’s, so he could start applying the cream. “Or are you going to say that it was my imagination every single time you teased, manipulated and toyed with me? In case you lack self-awareness, please let me inform you that all of those three things are clear indications that you have an extremely bad personality. One that I would risk saying that would ignore another person in that kind of setting, yes.”

 

“I’m extremely selfish, Kuroko,” confessed Akashi as he tightly grabbed the bluenette’s wrist and pulled his hand closer to him. His mischievous smirk had found its way back to his features yet again. “I tease, manipulate and toy with you, yes, but that doesn’t mean that others can do it too. I’m not very fond of sharing, you see? Those classmates of yours would do well in taking my warnings to heart, or the next glass flask may not end up shattering on the floor. As the captain of the basketball team, I have extremely good aim.”

 

“Y-You’re insane…” breathed Kuroko, his teal eyes opening a little bit more in shock. He reflexively tried to withdraw his hand but Akashi’s hold on his wrist was too well placed for him to be able to slip away.

 

“I could say the same thing about Aomine,” pointed out Akashi, placing a little bit of cream on the back of the bluenette’s bruised hand. He gently started to smear it over the blueish and purplish area, carefully to not needlessly hurt Kuroko. “Who’s the first entry on his murder list? I’d like to know how many people I have ahead of me so I can prepare myself for the next time he suddenly shows up to threaten and slam me against a door.”

 

“...!” Kuroko readily averted Akashi’s gaze at that question, gulping down hard in dry. Once Akashi removed his fingers from the back of his hand and started rumbling through what was on top of the desk, Kuroko used to opportunity to strongly yank his arm and managed to break himself free from the hold on his wrist. “T-Thank you for your help. I promised to have lunch with Momoi-san today so if you’ll excuse me now, Akashi-kun.”

 

“I’m still not done, sit down,” said Akashi as soon as Kuroko got up from the stool. He saw his pale features get slightly creased with a frown, but, nevertheless, the bluenette sat on the stool once again. Akashi took a new hold of his bruised hand and started to wrap the bandage around the limb with gentle and careful motions. “This way, you won’t smear the cream all over your clothes or textbooks.”

 

“...Thank you,” said Kuroko against his own will, throwing an impatient glance at the nurse’s office’s closed door.

 

“Also, Momoi will be helping the vice-captain of the basketball team sort out some newly arrived equipment so she’ll be busy during this entire lunch break,” added Akashi, his mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I’m sorry, Kuroko, but it seems I’ve ruined your escape plan yet again.”

 

“I told you to leave them out of this, didn’t I!?” yelped Kuroko, once again yanking his hand away from Akashi. However, instead of fully pulling himself away, this time he motioned his wounded hand forward and took hold of Akashi’s clothes. “You already have me to toy with, why are you getting Momoi-san involved in your sick hobbies too?”

 

“...!” With the momentum of Kuroko’s yanking, pushing and pulling, the stool where Akashi was sitting at wobbled back and forth. It ultimately made him fall sideways when the stool’s legs slid against the floor and knocked it down. Kuroko was quick enough to release his clothes but Akashi ended up nevertheless on the floor. “Is your violent side the reason why you want to avoid being angry all the time?”

 

“Y-You’re the one who’s forcing me to act violent,” mumbled Kuroko, twisting his nose around a little bit at that accusation. Feeling ashamed of his behaviour, he motioned his good hand towards Akashi, offering to help him get back up.

 

“As I said before, you’re too naive, Kuroko,” chuckled Akashi, also motioning his hand forward and clasping it around Kuroko’s. He, however, gave a strong pull at the bluenette’s hand, making him tumble forward on top of him.

 

“And as I said before, you’re too childish, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, straightening himself into a sitting position on top of the redhead’s laid down body. As he was motioning his body to get up, however, Akashi’s hands once again grabbed onto his wrists and kept the palm of his hands well stuck to the floor. “...!?”

 

“You’re surprisingly possessive, Kuroko,” said Akashi, the mischievous smirk twisting his evil lips upwards. “You dislike the idea of sharing me with Momoi that much?”

 

“Why is it that you have to twist my words in such ways all the time?” asked back Kuroko, a small glare in his teal eyes. “What I dislike is the thought of Momoi-san becoming one of your play toys. If I’m no longer all that amusing to have around or don’t satisfy you in the ways you would like me to, then please leave me alone, as well as those that are closest to me.”

 

“No, it’s extremely amusing to twist you around my little finger,” reassured Akashi, his red eyes suddenly gaining a certain naughty glint. This situation was reminiscing of the day he had met the bluenette and a sudden thought popped up in his brain. “And speaking of amusing…”

 

“Ah!!!” yelped Kuroko out of the blue, when one of Akashi’s hands released his wrist and landed on his exposed thigh. He readily lunged his now free hand and grabbed onto Akashi’s wrist. His mouth opened and closed as if a fish outside of water, too scandalised to be able to utter any more words.

 

“If you wear female clothes, why is it that you wear male underwear?” asked Akashi, tilting his head against the floor in a quite innocent way - the way he was looking at Kuroko, however, was anything but innocent. Despite Kuroko’s resistance, his hand easily slid up through his smooth thigh, the fabric of the skirt tickling at his skin. “Is it that you would feel too embarrassed about buying panties in person? You could still order them online. You could even buy them together with bras of the same style so they would match.”

 

“Yo… You... !” babbled Kuroko, unable to say any coherent words with all the embarrassment he momentarily felt. His face felt so hot that it was making his head dizzy.

 

“If you’d like, this Sunday we can visit a lingerie store and get you some pairs,” suggested Akashi, his hand continuing to climb further up Kuroko’s thigh and underneath his skirt. “I’m often told that I have a good eye for this sort of thing so I’m sure I would be able to help you pick the undergarments that suit you the most. What do you think?”

 

_ Yes, this is how it should be, _ inwardly acknowledged Akashi as he continued observing Kuroko trying to say some sort of comeback but only majestically fumbling his words all over the place.  _ Me letting the bullies get a piece of this or damage him with their lack of originality? It’s much better to have him around me as my ‘girlfriend’ and milk these interesting reactions out of him. _

 

Akashi was about to release Kuroko’s other wrist when the sound of the nurse’s office’s door being slid open reached his ears. Both he and the blushing Kuroko immediately looked over in the door’s direction, only to find there another student.

 

“Can I take a nap here? I’m not feeling very...well…” said Mayuzumi as he stepped inside of the nurse’s office. However, when he saw Akashi on the floor with a female student on top of him, he came to a sudden halt. Never tearing his eyes away from that sight, Mayuzumi took his cell phone from his pants’ pocket and readily took a considerably compromising photo of his oh-so-beloved Student Council President. “So Akashi Seijuurou likes the cowgirl position. Who would have thought…?”

 

If Kuroko’s blush was already red, now it had escalated to a myriad of shades of scarlet that covered his face, his ears and the back of his neck. He only wasn’t releasing clouds of steam because maybe the gods had finally taken a little bit of mercy on him.

 

“I’m suddenly feeling all better so please do continue,” deadpanned Mayuzumi, starting to turn around on his heels to exit the nurse’s office.

 

“Wait!!!” yelled Kuroko out of the blue, his blush darkening even further - if such was really possible - when he saw the male student start to leave and take together with him the photo he had just taken.

 

“Eh…?” interjected Mayuzumi, his body freezing at the male voice that he couldn’t remember Akashi using. Which meant…

 

“...!!!” In the midst of his panic, Kuroko somehow managed to release his other wrist from Akashi’s grasp and slapped both of his hands on top of his mouth. He hastily got up from Akashi’s laid down body and immediately ran off of the nurse’s office as fast as his embarrassed and bashful self could.

 

“Wait, she’s a dude!?” yelped Mayuzumi, a flabbergasted expression breaking down his usual dead, expressionless demeanour as he returned his gaze back to Akashi after having observed the student run off. He found Akashi sideways on the floor, his shoulders trembling around as he tried to restrain himself - from bursting out in laughter, for as incredulous as it may sound to Mayuzumi. “What the fuck? Are you forcing that guy into becoming a trap as your newest evil machination?”

 

“Not at all,” said Akashi as soon as he finally managed to calm himself down. He got back up and walked over to Mayuzumi at the same time as he straightened his school uniform. “Kuroko is simply my ‘girlfriend’.”

 

“Now I understand why you came to the nurse’s office,” spewed Mayuzumi, still completely shocked at what was happening. He did hear bits and pieces of the argument that Akashi had gotten himself in the previous day in front of the Student Council room, but he didn’t know the situation was this abnormal. “You’ve finally lost your marbles! Are you so desperate to get a girlfriend that you’re taking advantage of a trap? Let me warn you of two things, then. There’s a dick underneath that skirt and you have a whole line of girls without one wanting to become your girlfriends.”

 

“I’ll just save myself of the trouble of explaining to an otaku like you what is really happening…” sighed Akashi as he rolled his eyes around just the slightest. He stopped in front of Mayuzumi and motioned his hand forward. “Give me your cell phone.”

 

“I’ll give it to you if you give me that troublesome explanation,” negotiated Mayuzumi as he once again took his cell phone from his pants’ pocket. He put the electronic device on top of Akashi’s hand, closed the door behind himself and walked deeper inside of the nurse’s office. “So?”

 

“Did you know that, if explained in a certain way…” started Akashi as he browsed through Mayuzumi’s photo folders in search for the newest addition to it. In a matter of seconds, the ringtone of Akashi’s own cell phone rang and he placed Mayuzumi’s cell phone inside of the small sink placed in the room’s wall. With a quick twist, the faucet was turned on and water started to shower down on the now ruined electronic device. “...taking photos of others without their prior authorization and/or consent can get you in serious trouble, Mayuzumi-san?”

 

“You could have just deleted the photo, you know?” grumbled Mayuzumi, a small frown creasing his forehead. “Do you have any idea of how many web light novels I had stored in there?”

 

“You should think twice next time you want to try to blackmail me, then,” simply said Akashi while shrugging. He then threw a glare as a warning at the older student. “It’s already going to be a troublesome chore to set Kuroko free from all the bullies pestering him. Don’t start housing weird ideas about him in that brain of yours just because he can be included in your circle of interests.”

 

“I don’t necessarily have an interest in traps, they’re simply a recurrent character archetype in light novels,” explained Mayuzumi, walking towards the sink so as to close the still flowing faucet. He released a tired sigh as he removed the cell phone from the sink and shook it around to dry it off a little bit. “And I have no interest in BL either, by the way.”

 

“So as to finish our conversation, then,” acknowledged Akashi, slowly walking towards the door. It seemed that the rest of his lunch break would be spent looking for Kuroko - he definitely knew how to hide when he really didn’t want to be seen, he had to give the bluenette that. “If this discovery of yours reaches the ears of any student of this school… I’m going to ban anything manga and anime-related from this school for the remainder of this school year.”

 

“After all, I really need to see the nurse,” readily said Mayuzumi as he dropped his cell phone on the nearest bin and then walked to one of the beds. “For some unknown reason, I’ve developed partial amnesia.”


	7. A Push in the Back

_ I, Kuroko Tetsuya, shall put the honour of my deceased mother, my mentally unstable father and all of my ancestors on the line when I say that, one day, I shall claim the life of Akashi Seijuurou and send his nefarious soul to the pits of Hell!!! _

 

“I’m sorry for this sudden announcement, and one that is completely unrelated to basketball practice, but I believe I must offer an explanation as to why we have a guest today with us here on the court,” started Akashi, a bright smile on his lips as he gathered the entire main branch of the basketball club around him. He took a step back and positioned himself beside a student still dressed in Teikou’s school uniform, contrary to all the rest who wore sports clothes or shorts and t-shirts. “This is Kuroko Tetsuya-san. We’ve started dating recently and, as I want her to become an even bigger part of my daily life, I’ve made the decision of introducing her to all of you. Of course, this is not just because of my own selfishness but due to other more grievous circumstances, but I believe it’s better to focus on the brighter side of things. Kuroko-san?”

 

_ I will also be sure to send you to the brighter and hotter side of hell, worry not, Akashi-kun, _ inwardly grumbled Kuroko as he silently offered a small bow towards all of the basketball players. Despite all the evil machinations and assassination plots fueling his brain (and anger), his face remained as devoid of expression as usual.

 

“Ehh~ So you got yourself a girlfriend, huh, Akashicchi~” cheerfully said Kise Ryouta, a grin on his face as he observed the student standing beside the redhead from her head down to her toes. “It was about time, with so many love confessions going around behind the gym~ Even I was starting to get jealous of your popularity!”

 

“Is that something that a model should say?” snorted Midorima Shintarou, quickly adjusting his glasses as he averted fully looking to the couple in the centre of the group. “Besides, at least Akashi’s fangirls are quiet and well behaved. The same can’t be said about yours.”

 

“Hey~ Should you really be talking about that in front of Aka-chin’s girlfriend?” pointed out Murasakibara Atsushi in between bites of a Maiubou. “He’s gonna get dumped because of you two.”

 

“No need to worry, Murasakibara, because Kuroko-san is head over heels in love with m- Ugh…!” said Akashi but a powerful blow on the side of his torso made him loudly groan and bend forward just a fraction. A small pained frown present in his brows, he turned his head slightly sideways so as to look at the bluenette. “N-No need to feel so shy, Kuroko-san. I think my friends deserve to know the truth about our relationship. Right?”

 

_ The truth would be saying that I can’t deny anything you may say because if I open my mouth to do so, I’ll reveal my true identity, _ is what Akashi could read in the teal eyes glaring daggers at him. He softly cleared his throat and straightened his body once again, one of his hands softly massaging the place where he had been hit by Kuroko.

 

“The Coach has given me permission to let Kuroko-san remain here during practice hours, but obviously with the condition that we wouldn’t be disturbed by it,” continued Akashi, his eyes motioning towards the gym’s door when it was suddenly slid open to reveal two more members of the basketball club. “And since we’re all here now, we should get practice really started. Aomine, 3 additional laps due to arriving late.”

 

“Huh?” grumbled Aomine, scratching the back of his head as he sluggishly walked towards the benches, where all of his teammates were grouped up. “I thought that you dating Tetsu would mean less work for me during practice. Tsk, I’ve been deceived…”

 

“Dai-chan, stop being an opportunistic asshole and don’t try to skip the warm-up exercises just because you find them boring!” admonished Momoi, sideways glancing at the tanned male in disapproval. She then became all smiles and sparkles as she happily jumped forward and grabbed onto Kuroko’s arm. “Tetsu-chan, welcome to Teikou’s basketball club!!”

 

“Eh? Aominecchi, Momoicchi, you already know Akashicchi’s girlfriend?” inquired Kise, quickly switching his golden eyes between all four students.

 

“Kuroko-san is Aomine’s and Momoi’s childhood friend,” explained Akashi, throwing a quick sideways glance at Momoi and how she was clinging onto Kuroko as if it was a daily occurrence for them. “Though I only found out about it after we started dating.”

 

“Well, it’s as they say, the world is super small and shit,” pointed out Aomine as he gave a quick shrug with his shoulders. He motioned his hand forward and grabbed the back of Momoi’s school uniform, forcibly ungluing her from Kuroko. “Satsuki, don’t you have things to do?”

 

“Don’t you have 3 additional laps to run?” argued back Momoi, sticking her tongue out at Aomine.

 

“Shut up, fugly,” barked Aomine in retort, releasing Momoi’s clothes and darting in a run through the gym - the quickest he got his warming up done, the faster he could start playing basketball. And the faster he could continue to keep a close watch on Kuroko.

 

“Let’s all follow Aomine’s unexpected high spirit and start our own warm-ups,” announced Akashi, urging all players to start their own regimen. Before he started his own laps around the gym, he turned around to face the bluenette. “As I told you on our way here, feel free to do whatever you want in the bench area, Kuroko. But if you want to leave or go somewhere else, don’t forget to let your boyfriend know about it, okay?”

 

“One day, I’ll make you pay for all of this humiliation,” whispered Kuroko, throwing a wrathful glare at Akashi before he turned around on his heels and started to walk towards one of the benches. However, a hand grabbed him by the wrist and made him come to a sudden halt.

 

“That’s more than perfect,” whispered Akashi back in the bluenette’s ear. A mischievous smirk now occupied his previously smiling lips. “The unknown of when that payback will come will make my days with you much more interesting and amusing.”

 

“I’m starting to think that maybe you’re the masochist here,” growled Kuroko, quickly yanking his hand away from Akashi’s grasp and truly reaching the bench this time around.

 

Akashi simply chuckled at it and also turned around on his heels, intending on starting his own warming up exercises and instruct any of the players that weren’t correctly following through with theirs.

 

As it was usual, the first part of the basketball practice went by in a flash. After the warm-ups, all players began their individualised training regimens, one that focused on sharpening their trump cards while strengthening their rough ends to another iron fighting machine. Aomine and Kise went around back and forth in consecutive one-on-one scrimmage matches. Midorima was shooting ball after ball to the rim, always successfully making a 3-point score even though his shots made such a ridiculous high arc in the air. Murasakibara was on defence, playing an extremely one-sided game against a small group of players. Akashi was instructing another small group of players at the same time as he obtained his own basketball practice, Momoi close by to them so as to take notes on everything being said and later on create her own development charts.

 

_ This truly is torture…, _ sighed Kuroko in the back of his mind, his teal eyes lost on where to look and not feel a dagger of jealousy powerfully stab at his heart.

 

Belonging to the same basketball club as Aomine and Momoi had been his objective since he met both of them during their kindergarten days. Their elementary school had a very tiny mini-basketball court that they gave use to in every break they had, switching to a full court during weekends and school breaks. Those days had been what a child would call a perfect childhood later on when adult. However, shortly after they began middle school and all three of them joined the basketball club, disaster hit his family and Kuroko was forced to quit club activities so as to take over the place of a deceased person.

 

Never mind the sudden forced gender exchange and all the bullying it caused to his middle school self - what made Kuroko fall even further down the spiral of sadness and depression was having to give up on the one thing that made his days so very fulfilling. Losing basketball at the same time as he lost his mother was too powerful of a blow, all the rest was simply small bits and pieces of plywood that kept the fire burning.

 

“Um… Akashi-kun?” interrupted Momoi as soon as the coach announced break time. She hesitantly walked over to the redhead, who was drinking some water, and stopped next to him. “I can somewhat understand what you’re trying to do, after having heard your side of things, but… This is too cruel for Tetsu-kun…”

 

“...?” At hearing those words, Akashi removed the bottle of water from his mouth and tilted his head just the slightest. “If you’re talking about how I address to him as my ‘girlfriend’ while in front of others, I think it annoys Kuroko more than it hurts him. Though his pride may get a few bumps because of it, yes.”

 

“That’s not what I mean,” sighed Momoi, throwing a quick glance at Kuroko as he remained sat down alone in the bench. “Tetsu-kun loves basketball… He loves basketball just as much as Dai-chan does! But because of his own circumstances, he had to give up on it before and now he can’t join the basketball club due to gender issues. Putting him in the bench, where all he can do is watch the players do their best on the court but never join them… It’s just too cruel, Akashi-kun!”

 

“Haa…” loudly sighed Akashi, erupting a small startle out of Momoi. He leaned his body forward and put the bottle next to his sports towel once again, all this while he softly shook his head. “That is the part that I don’t understand.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Momoi, completely lost on what Akashi had meant with those words.

 

“This is just my own inference on it, based on what I see of others around me, so there might be some flaws to it,” said Akashi, quickly wiping a small drop of sweat from his features by leisurely rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. “Usually, a person crossdresses with an objective in mind. It can be because they don’t identify themselves with the gender they were born with. Kuroko was born male and that’s what he claims himself to be, even though he comes to school in a female uniform. It can also be because they simply enjoy becoming someone they are not, be it becoming a persona of their own imagination or one that they see on TV or read about. As in cosplay, for example. Kuroko is clearly annoyed at the prospect of pretending to be someone else. If not, he would have gladly accepted the role of my girlfriend, as it’s a perfect cover-up for him.”

 

_ Is that smugness or sarcasm…?, _ inwardly wondered Momoi, trying not to roll her eyes around at Akashi’s outrageous claims. Yes, many girls would like to claim the title of ‘Akashi-sama’s girlfriend’ but there were others that had better taste than that.  _ I would by far prefer to enjoy a false yuri romance with Tetsu-chan than to become Akashi-kun’s fake girlfriend~ _

 

“With gender identity and hobby scratched out of the list, what other reasons would there be left?” continued Akashi, completely unaware of the inner disdain Momoi was attacking him with. “Kuroko doesn’t seem to enjoy walking around school grounds with a skirt on. He’s perpetually afraid that someone will discover his actual gender, which leads him into allowing his bullying classmates to take advantage of him and abuse him in any way they please without fighting back. To a certain degree, Kuroko also lets me toy around with him because I know his secret, even though he clearly hates all of it. Becoming a girl meant giving up things he loves and can only do as a boy. Kuroko doesn’t want to be a girl, he wants to live as himself. But he still does it. He still comes to school dressed in a female school uniform, he still withstands all of the bullying, he still grudgingly listens to what I tell him to do, he still refrains himself from pursuing what he loves. Why? What kind of reason would lead him into doing all of this?”

 

“Akashi-kun, I can-”

 

“Yes, I know you won’t tell me anything about it,” interrupted Akashi right away. He released a small sigh and switched his gaze to the bench where Kuroko was sitting at. The bluenette was now having an extremely silent and quiet conversation with Aomine, who was trying his best to shoo Kise away. “Aomine’s the same. Neither of you two will tell me more about Kuroko than he would feel comfortable with.”

 

“Yes… That’s right…” acknowledged Momoi with a small nod of her head. “We can’t tell you anything about it because Tetsu-kun himself doesn’t like to talk about it. Not even with us. So we just try to ignore it and pretend to not know anything. But it’s not because we don’t care about him or just can’t be bothered anymore. I really want to see Tetsu-kun return to his true self, not just while in front of us, but before the whole world. It’s painful seeing him suffer so much… But Tetsu-kun is the most pigheaded person in the whole universe! He doesn’t accept our help or advice, he doesn’t ask for help from his uncle or grandmother, he doesn’t do anything to help himself… Tetsu-kun, he’ll… One day, he’ll hit rock bottom and just b-break…”

 

“If you start crying now, both Aomine and Kuroko will think I’m bullying you, Momoi,” said Akashi, gently patting the pink haired girl’s head. “This might give you a little bit of help in continuing to side with Kuroko like you’ve been doing throughout all of these years. Kuroko is currently the best source of amusement I have around me and I’m not someone with an interest in keeping broken toys. That’s why I don’t want to have to throw him to the junkyard. Okay?”

 

“Y-You’re going to help Tetsu-kun…?” softly breathed Momoi in an amazed gasp after having released a small sob.

 

“No, I’m not,” answered Akashi, a soft smile starting to tug at the corner of his lips. “Kuroko already has everything he needs to help himself. He simply hasn’t realised it yet. So all he needs right now is a good wake up call.”


	8. Way Out

“Good morning,” greeted Akashi as he stepped inside of the classroom used by class 1-5 of the general course. He also obtained some greetings back, a couple of small squeaks due to the smile present on his face and, most of all, some uncertain glances. It was within the expected. However, there was a certain missing ‘piece’ that wasn’t within his plans. “Excuse me but Kuroko-san is…?”

 

“She left together with the teacher to the faculty office,” said one of the male students close by to where Akashi was standing at.

 

“Pfft… The teachers probably had enough of her and decided to take her to the headmaster,” snorted another boy, a knowing smirk mischievously tugging at the corner of his lips. “I’m sorry to inform you, Akashi-san, but you probably won’t have any reasons to visit this classroom starting today. I mean, if you weren’t aware of it already.”

 

“No offence, Akashi-sama, but you have made a poor decision by taking Kuroko-san as your girlfriend,” added one of the female students this time. “She’s not a good match to someone of your status. Knowing that you’re capable of making mistakes makes you even more approachable, both as the Student Council President and as the top student of Teikou. But please do not extend that mistake any further than this. She will only drag you down.”

 

“That’s something meant for me to decide,” said Akashi, forcing himself to smile at the students. “I appreciate all of your concern, don’t be mistaken. However, the words of outsiders have no weight whatsoever in my life or my choices.”

 

“Having a pretty face really makes wonders, then,” scoffed the girl. With eyes filled with scorn, she glanced over to Kuroko’s empty seat. “Even if there’s nothing else to add to it.”

 

“Then I’m not the Student Council President nor the top student of Teikou,” interrupted Akashi, his smile widening even further as he quickly shrugged his shoulders. “I’m simply a man who lets himself be seduced by a pretty face. If you’ll excuse me then, I have a missing girlfriend that I must find. Have a nice day and do enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

 

With those words, Akashi turned around on his heels and walked out of the classroom, as calmly and peacefully as he had arrived. Outwardly only, however. Inside, he was boiling and burning in frustration.

 

Why exactly had Kuroko allowed things to escalate this much? Was this his new escape plan, to have the headmaster expel him from Teikou High School and run off to any other school?

 

_ If it is, I’m very sorry, Kuroko, but I’ll be ruining those plans of yours once again, _ said Akashi in the back of his mind, quickly walking towards the faculty office.  _ I’m not going to allow you to run away from me for the next three years. I’m not even going to allow you to keep on running from your own classmates any longer. _

 

-.-

 

“Come in,” said Shirogane, raising his eyes from the documents he was reading to look over to his office’s door. The door swiftly opened and from the corridor appeared a student he was far too familiarised with. Not only in the school context, but also in his private life. Once the door closed, he smiled. “Tetsuya, good morning. How are you doing?”

 

“Good morning, Kouzou-san,” greeted back Kuroko, also giving a quick smile at the older man as he walked closer to his desk.

 

“I’m sorry for using your teacher to summon you here,” apologised Shirogane, gesturing with one of his hands to the chair on the other side of his desk so as to urge Kuroko to take a seat. “I know you don’t enjoy the extra dose of attention. But if I hadn’t, you most likely wouldn’t come to see me, would you?”

 

“It’s not that I don’t want to see you…” said Kuroko with a small voice, awkwardly adjusting his skirt as he sat down on the seat provided to him.

 

“How are you doing?” asked Shirogane once again in the form of a tired sigh. “How is your father faring? Are there any improvements to his health condition?”

 

“We’re both doing okay, thank you for asking,” answered Kuroko, offering a quick bow at Shirogane. His fingers lightly tugged and grabbed onto the fabric of his skirt, his teal eyes not looking straight at his uncle. “My father is… I’ve been making sure that he takes his medication every day.”

 

“I see. So there hasn’t been any improvement,” acknowledged Shirogane. He slowly removed the glasses from the bridge of his nose and settled them on top of the desk. “Tetsuya, as the headmaster of this school, it is within my power to report your situation to the child welfare authorities and have you removed from your father’s guard. You know that both your grandmother and I are more than able to assume that guard while your father is getting the appropriate treatment to his condition or until you reach the age of majority.”

 

“P-Please wait a moment, Kouzou-san…!” readily said Kuroko, getting up from the chair in a single jump. His heart was thundering inside of his ribcage and his throat was getting so very dry. “T-There’s no need to go that far. He’s getting better! It might not be a very noticeable or fast progress, but there is some improvement. He’s getting more proactive and has started doing things around the house. He started cooking once again. We went for a walk to the nearby park two weeks ago. He’s-”

 

“But he did all of those things while thinking that you’re my niece, didn’t he?” interrupted Shirogane, his eyes filled with pity as he stared at Kuroko. He gestured towards the chair a second time.

 

“I understand that he’s sick and that he needs appropriate treatment if he wants to restore his life back to what it was before Mom died…” acknowledged Kuroko, slowly sitting back down on the chair. “But he just needs some more time! He’s always loved Mom so much, of course it will take time for him to fully take in that she’s dead when it all happened so suddenly.  _ I _ can understand that. And I can take care of him until then. He doesn’t hurt me, he doesn’t do anything untoward to me. He just thinks I’m someone else. Just that. Shirogane-san, please… Please don’t take my father away from me too.”

 

“Tetsuya, you may not see it as such but…” sighed Shirogane, crossing his fingers over the table. “What your father is doing is child abuse and neglect, not to mention robbing you of several rights that you have as a human being. You’re a smart kid, I’m sure you also realise it deep down.”

 

“...”

 

“I won’t force you into making any decision, you can take your time,” continued Shirogane, warmly smiling at the silent bluenette. “But please know that you have me and your grandmother on your side. Once you’re ready to take that step forward, let us know. We’ll place your father in a clinic where he can get all the support and counselling that he needs. Money is not a problem, as you’re aware. You can also keep attending my school as a female student until then. But listen to what your friends tell you too. They want their childhood friend, not your mother. And you also want to live as Kuroko Tetsuya… right?”

 

“...”

 

“Well, that was enough nagging from my side for the week,” suddenly said Shirogane, his smile stretching further. “I’m sure you have your own things to do so I won’t take any more of your time. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

 

“...yes, thank you very much,” acknowledged Kuroko, getting up from the chair and bowing towards Shirogane one more time. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave then.”

 

“Tetsuya,” called Shirogane once Kuroko started walking towards the door. “What makes a parent the happiest is to see their children happy. Do take that into consideration while you take your time making your decision.”

 

“Yes… I will…”


	9. Interrogatory

At this point, Akashi was about to break the school rules and run in the hallways so as to reach the headmaster’s office as quickly as possible. He wasn’t going to, however, because he needed all cards up his sleeve and starting to break the rules now wouldn’t help any of them in any way.

 

When Akashi reached the teacher’s lodge and was told that Kuroko had been summoned by Shirogane Kouzou, the school’s headmaster, the words that the bluenette’s classmates had spitefully thrown fully sunk in. He couldn’t even understand how he hadn’t realised it up until now. If Kuroko didn’t speak, didn’t associate with any of his classmates and didn’t belong to a single after school club, of course he would be automatically added to the ‘delinquent list’ when Teikou High School was all about good grades and future sports stars.

 

_ You’re turning out to be more troublesome than I initially thought, Kuroko, _ inwardly grumbled Akashi as he continued his fast-paced walking towards the headmaster’s office. It wasn’t an annoyed or dissatisfied grumble, however. If anything, it made him realise that having Kuroko in his life housed even more benefits for him that he had calculated in their first meeting.  _ I mean, how many Student Council Presidents have had the opportunity to challenge the school headmaster so as to rescind the expelling of another student? _

 

Then again, Akashi didn’t want to spend three years constantly stressing over the possibility of Kuroko being suddenly called over to the headmaster’s office so as to be expelled. Much like he didn’t need his brain to get distracted with thoughts of Kuroko once again ending up cornered by the bully group somewhere in school grounds while he was taking care of other matters.

 

_ Wait… _ , suddenly said Akashi in the back of his head, his walking coming to a complete halt halfway through the hallway that led to the target room.  _ Is it good to have Kuroko around because he brings forward entertaining and interesting troublesome situations… or are the troublesome situations entertaining and interesting because Kuroko is the cause? _

 

As Akashi was marvelling the answer to that question, the door at the end of the corridor was silently opened and from the insides of the headmaster’s office slipped out a known bluenette.

 

“Kuroko!” readily called Akashi… which caused the bluenette to visibly flinch at it. As he quickly walked towards him, Kuroko swiftly turned his back at Akashi, which only fuelled his worries even further. Without halting this time, he went over to Kuroko, grabbed one of his hands and immediately pulled him to the nearest classroom.

 

“A-Akashi-kun, what are you-” asked Kuroko in a small voice but he didn’t have enough time to finish his sentence before he was pushed inside of the empty classroom and heard the sound of the door being locked once the two of them were inside.

 

“Were you expelled?” asked Akashi as soon as he turned around to face Kuroko, a dead serious expression on his face.

 

“What…?” interjected Kuroko, slightly confused over why exactly was the redhead asking him something like that. “Akashi-kun, I have no idea what sort of student you think I am but I’ve never given anyone any reason that could get me expelled from this or any other school.”

 

“But you-”

 

“The headmaster, Shirogane-san, is my mother’s uncle and he was the one who put me in this school as one of its students,” interrupted Kuroko this time around, feeling like rolling his eyes around at the weirdly serious and worried expression in Akashi’s face. He added, with the most expressionless face he could muster at that moment, “I told you from the start that I wasn’t deceiving anyone. If people misunderstand my gender as that of a female, it’s their fault, not mine.”

 

“And the teachers?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched in his brows in suspicion.

 

“I believe Shirogane-san has told them that I’m not very good at speaking out loud due to some health reasons,” explained Kuroko after releasing a small sigh. “Same health reasons why I’m exempted from having PE classes or joining an extracurricular club for after school hours. My classmates are, obviously, not aware of any of these things. Any more questions for this sudden interrogatory or am I free to go get my school bag and go home?”

 

“You won’t stay for lunch and the basketball practice in the afternoon?” asked Akashi once again, part of him feeling much more relieved now that he had some of the most worrisome troubles solved with a positive conclusion.

 

“I… have some things planned to do so no, I won’t be staying today,” said Kuroko, his teal eyes unconsciously averting looking at Akashi directly. Now fully planting his gaze on the floor, Kuroko walked around the redhead and motioned over to the door. “I-I need to hurry up and leave so if you’ll excuse me, Akashi-kun. I’ll see you once again Monday, unfortunately.”

 

“Monday?” repeated Akashi, quickly turning his body around and pressing one of his hand on top of the door’s lock to prevent Kuroko from opening it. “Kuroko, we’re going on a date tomorrow. I hope you haven’t forgotten about it.”

 

“Ugh…” groaned Kuroko, inwardly cursing at the redhead. “I didn’t forget… but I hoped you had…”

 

“You should have known that I have a very good memory, being the top student in our year and the Student Council President and all,” pointed out Akashi, his expression making a full 180. The seriousness was completely erased and his playful and mischievous smirk now tugged at the corner of his lips. He took his cell phone out of his pants’ pocket and motioned it towards Kuroko. “Give me your phone number and email address. Oh, your house’s address too.”

 

“Why…?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, his eyes switching around between the cell phone and Akashi’s smirk.

 

“I think the phone number and email address is self-explanatory,” said Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “It’s easier for us to get in contact with each other through cell phone rather than looking around for one another and leaving an accidental meeting up to fate, don’t you think? As for your address, it’s only gentlemanly of me to go pick you up for our date. Also, I’m forcing you to go out with me and you could find some sort of way of running away if I don’t go pick you up directly rather than arranging a meeting point. I’d also like to greet your parents since you’ll be spending the whole day with-”

 

“NO!” suddenly yelled Kuroko, surprising Akashi into a stop at the unexpected loud outburst. Gulping down hard, Kuroko quickly looked to the cell phone and awkwardly took it from the redhead’s hand. He added his contact information to Akashi’s contact list and returned his cell phone to him. “There. My cell phone number and email address. P-Please make do with those and my promise on going on this date with you, no excuses given that will make it being cancelled.”

 

“I know you’re honest and that you keep your promises,” said Akashi, giving a quick glance to his cell phone’s screen to certify himself that Kuroko’s contact information had been properly stored in his contact list. “But I also know that you’re constantly trying to come up with strategies to run away from me. Usually through the means of Momoi or Aomine.”

 

“T-Then…” mumbled Kuroko, trying to come up with some sort of way that would convince Akashi in the midst of his panicking mind. He motioned his hands forward and grabbed onto Akashi’s school jacket, his fingers tightly closing around the white fabric as he stared straight into his red eyes. “Then I swear! I swear I’ll meet with you tomorrow, whatever hour and whatever place you find more suitable. I-I swear it so you don’t need to go to my house. Please, Akashi-kun...”

 

“You almost sound as if you don’t want me to go there,” was what Akashi was about to say… but Kuroko’s panicky expression and the so uncharacteristic begging and forceful compromising made him think twice before saying anything.

 

“10 o’clock, in front of the train station near Teikou,” said Akashi, still closely observing Kuroko’s desperate face. “Is that good for you?”

 

“Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko in the shape of a relieved sigh. He released Akashi’s school uniform, his fingers trembling as he exchanged the hold to his own clothes. “Yes, I’m okay with it…”


	10. I’m…

“I’m home,” greeted Kuroko, closing the door behind himself as he walked deeper inside of the entrance area. He placed his school bag and grocery shopping plastic bags on the floor and started taking off his outdoor shoes, which were replaced by slippers.

 

“Welcome home.” With a soft smile on his lips, his father exited from the living room and walked over in Kuroko’s direction. As he picked up the grocery bags, he delivered a soft kiss on Kuroko’s forehead, his thin smile growing even further. “I’ve already prepared your lunch. Go get your clothes changed while I heat it once again.”

 

“Yes, thank you,” said Kuroko, forcing himself to smile - in the exact same way his mother used to do every time she arrived home from work. “I think I bought everything you asked but please let me know if I forgot something.”

 

“By the weight of the bags, I can already tell that you forgot to buy rice,” pointed out his father, his eyes taking quick peeks at the two grocery bags. He placed one of the bags on the floor once again and gently stroked Kuroko’s head. “After you have lunch, shall we go buy it together?”

 

“Yes!” cheerfully acknowledged Kuroko, his saddened expression fully disappearing from his face - in the exact same way his mother used to do every time she forgot to buy something. “I’ll get changed quickly so we can go.”

 

“Don’t rush or you’ll fall down the stairs again,” his father warned, a deadpan expression on his features as he followed Kuroko with his eyes. He turned around on his heels and moved to the kitchen, to place the groceries in their respective places.

 

Kuroko continued climbing the stairs to the second floor, towards his bedroom. Once inside of the only private space he had in the whole house, he dropped his school bag on the floor and released a long, silent sigh.

 

_ The brain truly is a magical machine, _ thought Kuroko as he glanced over to the mirror and saw his reflection on it. Even though he had arrived home dressed in a school uniform, his father completely ignored that fact and greeted him like he always greeted his mother when she arrived from her office job.  _ Very convenient, to ignore what we don’t want to see and replace it with what we want to see. I wish I could do the same… _

 

Releasing a second sigh, Kuroko walked over to his wardrobe and opened it, taking from there a couple of clothes. None of them was his - they all used to belong to his mother. Luckily or not, Kuroko was roughly the same size as his mother when she passed away and the clothes fitted him like a glove during his initial middle school days. As he grew up… well, Kuroko was now an expert in sewing and clothing modifications, to the point where his mother’s clothes looked the exact same even after becoming a size or two bigger throughout the years.

 

Kuroko took his school uniform off, neatly placing it on top of his bed so it wouldn’t get creased, and then dressed one of his mother’s favourite clothes: a long white dress with small light blue flowers sewed on the skirt’s edge, which he remembered her using together with a blue lace coat on top if the weather was colder. It was springtime, with Summer wanting some screen time already now and then, but Kuroko decided to use the coat nevertheless. It might distract him from the fact that he was using such a feminine dress underneath.

 

He placed himself in front of the mirror, brushing his long hair as he stared at his appearance. In his opinion, having long hair was one of his biggest daily struggles. Being so silky and thin, his hair was constantly getting knots throughout the day and it was hellish to brush it after walking up, even if Kuroko didn’t move all that much during the night. He’d like to cut it shorter or at least tie it up in some sort of way, but he wasn’t allowed to. His mother had been a simple woman, who always wore her hair long and down, as far as he could remember.

 

“I’m… Kuroko Tetsuya...” whispered Kuroko to himself as he stared at his reflexion in the mirror. It was his daily chant since he started replacing his mother, the only thing that still gave him a sense of self and personality.

 

Of course, Aomine, Momoi, his uncle Shirogane and his grandmother all gave him the necessary guarantees that he  _ was _ Kuroko Tetsuya, not his mother. But Kuroko felt that if he were to forget for even a single second who he truly was, maybe ‘Kuroko Tetsuya’ would truly disappear from that world and be replaced by the ghost that his mother left behind.

 

“Dad would probably prefer it if I did, though…” bitterly added Kuroko, a forced smile on his lips as he turned his back to the mirror and walked towards the door. “In his eyes, it was me who died three years ago, not Mom…”

 

-.-

 

“Haa…” sighed Kuroko, feeling completely exhausted as he halfheartedly brushed his hair for the hundredth time before going to bed, hoping that some magical force would prevent it from being a rat’s nest by morning time. “One more Saturday went by…”

 

Like all Saturdays before that one, Kuroko had returned home after school and a small grocery shopping trip (where he would ‘accidentally’ forget to buy one of the items in the list - like his mother would), ate the lunch that his father had prepared (his mother had been one of those miraculous kitchen disasters who could even burn water - Kuroko was secretly a good cook if he put his heart into it, actually) and then went out to fetch the groceries that had been forgotten. In the latest Saturdays, his father would accompany him for the second shopping trip, holding his hand as they slowly walked through the residential neighbourhood’s streets until the shopping district, ignoring the whispers and pity glances of the neighbours who were aware of his mother’s passing.

 

“And tomorrow will be the updated version of all of this embarrassment,” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, his grip tightening around the brush. His father had easily accepted that he would spend the whole Sunday out, using the excuse that a coworker from the office would be moving to another prefecture so Kuroko would be helping the family pack their things and then enjoy a small farewell party with other coworkers.

 

If only the truth was that nice…

 

Kuroko had no idea what exactly Akashi was planning for the following day but he was quite sure he would use and abuse of the status of ‘date’. Akashi would most likely drag him to a clothes shop and force him to try different girls’ clothes. Probably introduce him as his ‘girlfriend’ everywhere they went. Definitely coerce him into doing embarrassing things that were expected of girls but not of boys.

 

“I better start thinking up countermeasure plans because if Akashi-kun forces me to get inside of the girl’s bathroom, no matter where it may be, I swear I’ll kill him on the spot…” mumbled Kuroko, placing the brush on top of the dressing table and crossing his fingers in front of his face as he thought about it. “Maybe I’ll ask Aomine-kun or Momoi-san to call me at a specific time so I can excuse myself for a few minutes… No, Akashi-kun definitely has planned something to make it impossible for the two of them to interfere. Then perhaps I can use Kouzou-san as an excuse for a phone call? Or maybe Grandma? But what if Akashi-kun confiscates my cell phone as soon as I see him? Hmmm…”

 

While amid his thoughts and schemes, his cell phone vibrated and beeped on top of his nightstand. Kuroko stretched his arm sideways and took a hold of the electronic device, readily checking the messages he had received.

 

Reading those words only made his mood worse.

 

_ [Akashi-kun]: I’ve gotten hold of your house’s address. If you’re even 1 minute late, I’ll be passing by there to pick you up, regardless if you’re there or on your way to the station. _

 

_ [Akashi-kun]: If you do plan on castrating me, like Aomine warned me about, you will need to get creative on ways to take me to a place where I can take my pants off. I find that the first date is far too soon for that kind of physical intimacy. _

 

“I’ll just kill him on the spot,” concluded Kuroko, closing his cell phone a little bit too violently as he got up and walked to his bed. He dropped his body to the bed and, after a few minutes of deep silence simply staring to the ceiling, Kuroko wrestled his way inside of the bedsheets, a deep frown creasing his brows as he pressed the wireless light switch placed on his nightstand. “Let’s just sleep and try not to think about it…!”

 

Though Kuroko said that, minute and minute continued to tick by and sleep wouldn’t arrive. He simply kept on staring to the ceiling in nearly complete darkness, the window providing just a little bit of clarity due to the moon and streetlamps outside. His brain just wouldn’t shut out with all the spiralling thoughts and allow his body to get the needed rest. And Kuroko surely would need to be well-rested if he wanted to deal with Akashi for a full day without becoming a murderer or bloodying his hands.

 

“Ugh… I hate him so much…” groaned Kuroko, slapping his hands over his face to try to forget about Akashi and all that he represented in his life. A loud noise accompanied by a sudden outburst of light, however, made him suddenly spring to a sitting position on his bed.

 

“You’re alive!” His father said, his face washed in tears as he slowly walked towards Kuroko, one of his hands stretched forward in his direction. Kuroko’s teal eyes opened wide in surprise, his chest getting warm with the hope that, by some lucky strike, his father had finally regained awareness of everything and remembered the accurate events of three years ago. However, as soon as his father tightly hugged him, all of that warmness became as cold as ice. “I had a terrible dream! I dreamt you had died on your way home from work… Horrible, it was just horrible… How could I have mistaken you for Tetsuya, our son…? Honey, I love you. I love you so much. If I were to lose you, it would kill me too… I love you, I love you, I love you…”

 

“...it… it was just a dream…” softly said Kuroko, lifting one of his trembling hands and gently patting his father’s convulsing back with it. “...just a dream…”

 

_ I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, I’m Kuroko Tetsuya... _


	11. Bitterness vs. Sweetness

“You sure seem to be in a good mood this morning,” said Akashi as he observed Kuroko walking closer towards the bench he had been sitting on while waiting in front of the train station. “Were you too excited to fall asleep?”

 

“If you can see that I’m in a ‘good mood’, why are you trying to make it worse?” deadpanned Kuroko, though a small frown had been present on his face for brief seconds. He sighed, trying to relax and go through the day as calmly as possible. “Why are you already here, Akashi-kun? I thought the appointed hour was 10 o’clock.”

 

“Yes, it was,” acknowledged Akashi with a small nod of his head, getting up from the bench afterwards. “But with the text I sent you last night, I assumed you would show up here as early as possible to prevent my ‘threats’ from happening. It wouldn’t be gentlemanly if I made my date wait for me, would it?”

 

“I am so very sorry for not being gentlemanly and make you wait, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko once again, this time in a more accentuated way. Akashi truly knew how to rile him up. He hadn’t quite figured out if the redhead had already caught on the fact that the easiest way to make him angry was to treat him like a girl despite knowing his true gender or if Akashi simply had the innate ability to annoy others - either way it went, Kuroko couldn’t stand it.

 

“You don’t need to apologise, I didn’t take offence on it,” chuckled Akashi, offering his hand at Kuroko. “Shall we go, then?”

 

“Go where...?” suspiciously inquired Kuroko, his teal eyes carefully analysing the redhead’s semblance and facial expression. Especially the hand he was motioning toward him.  _ If he thinks I’m going to hold his hand, he has another thing coming. _

 

“It’s not 10 yet so most shops are closed, especially being a Sunday,” explained Akashi, taking a quick peek at his wristwatch. “As I don’t want to abuse the hospitality we’ll be shown, I was thinking of going to a nearby coffee store and enjoy a second breakfast while waiting for opening hours. But if you have any suggestions about what to do today, do let me know. I don’t feel like having a one-sided date with you, Kuroko.”

 

“...” Kuroko remained silent for a couple of seconds, closely thinking about what he was being told. When Akashi acted in such a nice and straightforwardly honest way, it disarmed him of his defence mechanisms of ‘snarky remarks’ and ‘verbal stabs’. Seeing a good side to Akashi’s personality was equivalent to see a fish walking and breathing in dry land, as far as it concerned Kuroko. “You’re… not plotting anything, are you?”

 

“Of course I am,” confessed Akashi, a mischievous smirk suddenly popping out on his lips. “That’s why I find it safer for my body parts to first sweeten up your mood a little bit before I put my evil schemes into motion.”

 

“I no longer know if you’re being honest or if just teasing me again…” sighed Kuroko, part of him just raising the white flag in trying to figure out Akashi’s true intentions. He had already mentalised himself that his entire day would be constant verbal warfare between the two of them, with Akashi attempting to tease and manipulate him in all imaginable ways. The best countermeasure that Kuroko could come up with was to not let his pride and anger take the best of him and keep his reactions to the bare minimum or, if possible, completely non-existent. If Akashi couldn’t take enjoyment in his responses then he would eventually stop, or so Kuroko hoped. “Well, if you want to go to a coffee shop first, that’s okay by me… But I’ll be paying for anything I eat or drink there.”

 

“That’s fine by me,” acknowledged Akashi, his smirk stretching just a fraction as he gestured forward to lead Kuroko to the chosen establishment. “I’ve recently heard that some women take offence when men want to pay for their things.”

 

_ Breath, Kuroko Tetsuya, and don’t let it bother you, _ inwardly chanted Kuroko, taking a masked deep breath to calm himself down. He couldn’t afford to ruin his plans so early in the game.

 

The coffee store they choose to go was a regular chain-franchise that had been steadily becoming more and more popular in recent years. Even Kuroko had heard about it and gone a couple of times with Aomine and Momoi. And it was for that exact same reason that he had accidentally forgotten about a vital aspect of going outside.

 

“I’d like a café au lait, medium, to have in the store,” said Akashi to the cashier after quickly browsing through the menu with his eyes. He quickly settled his bill and made way for Kuroko to do the same.

 

_ Oh no…, _ inwardly mumbled Kuroko, silently staring at the cashier as they waited for his order. He quickly surveyed the counter for any pamphlets or promotional announcements but they had the misfortune of using a cashier that was stripped of nearly everything except the receipt machine and the cashier.  _ If I speak, I… _

 

“M’am, are you ready to make your order?” inquired the cashier with a certain hesitation, not knowing what to do in that kind of situation.

 

“Um…”

 

“I’m sorry, my girlfriend has such a sweet tooth that she always has a hard time deciding what to order,” intervened Akashi, a big smile on his face as he placed himself next to Kuroko. “Could you give us your recommendation?”

 

“If she has such a sweet tooth, then I would recommend this menu,” suggested the cashier, pointing at a poster placed behind the counter. “You can choose between a natural juice or one of our milkshakes to accompany a slice of the cake of the day. If I’m not mistaken, today’s special is peach and honey tart.”

 

“...!”

 

“We’ll go with that then,” said Akashi, taking a quick sideways glance at the fidgetting bluenette. “For the drink… Um… With such sweetness, maybe something milder would be better. Do you have vanilla milkshakes?”

 

“...!!”

 

“Yes, we do,” acknowledged the cashier, readily inserting the order in the receipt machine. “Anything else you’d like to have?”

 

“I’d actually like to make an addition to my order so I’ll just settle this bill too,” added Akashi, taking Kuroko’s spot directly in front of the cashier. Not before throwing a quick victorious smirk at the bluenette, obviously.  _ I guess this finally makes it 1-0 for me. _

 

After waiting for a couple of minutes for their drinks to be ready, Kuroko and Akashi walked over to an empty table and settled themselves and their trays there. Akashi readily picked on his café au lait and took a sit at it, but he amusingly saw that Kuroko simply stared at his food as if it had committed a heavy sin.

 

“Are you going to put that food to waste simply because it was paid by me?” asked Akashi, trying to not release any chuckle or short laugh straight at the bluenette’s face. “The food isn’t at fault.”

 

“Yes, the food  _ isn’t _ ,” acknowledged Kuroko in a small whisper, grudgingly picking up the dessert fork and motioning it towards the tart slice. “You, on the other hand, must be thinking that you just won. That’s making me lose my appetite.”

 

“Being so easily read and understood truly makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it?” teasingly pointed out Akashi, inwardly chuckling at the dirty look that Kuroko threw him at that confirmation.

 

Silently grumbling under his breath, Kuroko broke a piece of the tart slice and led it to his mouth. Sugar was the best medicine for a bad mood, indeed, because at the first bite, Kuroko felt his shoulders relaxing and the sweetness was providing him with a certain sense of comfort. After having swallowed that little piece of heaven, he lunged forward at the true target: the vanilla milkshake.

 

_ Ahh, this vanilla milkshake just made this terrible day worth it…, _ inwardly sighed Kuroko as the sweetly cold beverage sipped into his mouth and then down his throat. He even couldn’t resist it and just closed his eyes in utter rapture, enjoying every little drop of the milkshake to its fullest.

 

“Oh, I was actually right about it,” suddenly said Akashi, forcing Kuroko to wake up from the heavenly refuge in liquid form. “Since you always get so defensive and bitter when I associate any characteristic or personality traits of yours with the female gender, I thought that you completely rejected any possible and imaginable match between the two. I didn’t think you’d truly have a sweet tooth.”

 

“Is it a bad thing for a man to like sweets?” asked Kuroko with a small voice, switching his gaze downwards at his tart. “Most pastry chefs out there in the world are men. I doubt they would dedicate so many years of their lives preparing something that they can’t enjoy themselves. I think associating sweets and sugar with women only is such a silly bias.”

 

“Yes, I guess it really is a common assumption to make,” conceded Akashi, giving a quick mix to his café au lait with a tall spoon. “It suits you, though.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, lifting his eyes from the slice to stare at the redhead.

 

“You look better while wholeheartedly enjoying sweets than when you’re trying to think of a way to avoid having your true gender revealed to other people,” said Akashi, lightly tapping the tall spoon on the edge of the glass and putting it back down on the tray.

 

“Um… T-Thank you,” whispered Kuroko, readily averting Akashi’s gaze by looking back down to the tart slice and breaking it into small bite-sized pieces with the fork.

 

Why exactly had his heart decided to skip a beat just now?


	12. Shopping Time

“I don’t want to,” readily declared Kuroko as soon as he and Akashi stopped in front of their first actual ‘dating spot’. He had somehow managed to keep a completely expressionless semblance in his features as his teal eyes crashed with the countless mannequins dressed in the most diverse of women’s fashion, even if inside he was shuddering in slight disgust at the prospect of being forced to wear those clothes. Kuroko turned around on his heels and started walking away.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” interrupted Akashi, motioning his hand sideways and swiftly grabbing Kuroko’s waist by wrapping his arm around it. He had already predicted that the bluenette would attempt escaping as soon as they arrived there so he had been constantly on his guard during their way to the clothes store. Akashi pulled him closer and then added his other arm, certifying himself that Kuroko truly couldn’t run away. “What was the promise, Kuroko? A full-day date. Could you remind me the time?”

 

“10:15…” grumbled Kuroko with a small, annoyed voice.

 

“Then it’s not time for you to go home yet, is it?” pointed out Akashi, a small smirk on his lips. Step by step, he started dragging the bluenette towards the store’s front door. “I’m not a bad guy. If anything, I’m your ally. I want to help you get all the perfect weapons and disguises for you to keep on successfully hiding your true gender from others.”

 

“If you had said that while not blatantly forcing me into a date that I don’t want to go and dragging me inside of a store that is nearly making me hurl due to the bad feeling I have…” started Kuroko, trying to use his feet and legs to force the two of them to an halt before Akashi could accomplish the first step of the incoming torture session. It was clearly not working, for the store kept on growing closer and closer at a frightening speed. “I  _ might _ have believed you.”

 

“Might only?” chuckled Akashi, tightening his grip around the bluenette’s waist with one of his arms while he motioned the other one forward and pushed the glass door open.

 

“I haven’t forgotten how you tried to strip me naked in the Student Council room or all the blackmail you’ve spewed since then,” deadpanned Kuroko, part of his brain resigning itself to his unavoidable fate. His body, however, kept on fighting back.

 

“Then I guess I better start meeting your expectations, as the bad, evil villain that I am,” said Akashi in a mocking tone, trying to keep his amusement and laughter well locked inside. He closed the door behind himself and continued leading Kuroko further inside of the store, his eyes glancing around now and then as he searched for the store attendant.

 

“Welcome, Akashi-sama,” greeted the store attendant, offering a long bow at the redhead and his companion. “Please feel free to browse through the store for as long as you wish. We have made all the arrangements you have requested.”

 

“Thank you,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a sharp nod with his head as he gently released Kuroko’s waist. “We’ll try to not extend our visit needlessly, so you can return to your usual business hours as soon as possible.”

 

“Thank you very much for your consideration, Akashi-sama,” said the store attendant, once again bowing at the redhead and then swiftly taking her leave.

 

“W-What kind of arrangements did you ask of them…?” fearfully asked Kuroko, taking a couple of steps away from the redhead while he straightened his clothes.

 

“Didn’t you notice the closed sign on the door?” asked back Akashi, a knowing, extremely mischievous, smirk readily twisting the corner of his lips upwards. “We have the whole store for ourselves. I wouldn’t want to see all of your efforts being thrown away simply because we got careless while enjoying ourselves.”

 

_ You’re the only one enjoying yourself, _ grumbled Kuroko in the back of his mind. Externally, he was as expressionless as ever - he didn’t want to give Akashi the pleasure of letting him see how furious he truly felt.  _ Why is it that assholes always have money to waste in this kind of ridiculous, obnoxious ways? I would never use my or my family’s money for this sort of schemes… _

 

“Did you already lose all of your fighting spirit?” inquired Akashi after not obtaining any complaint or glare from the bluenette. He sighed. “If you keep on acting all stonefaced, then it won’t be any fun for me. Let’s just quit this… Is that what you’re trying to make me say? The less you struggle, Kuroko, the further I’ll end up pushing you.”

 

Kuroko averted Akashi’s amused expression, inwardly clicking his tongue in annoyance. Akashi had known his strategy all along and even played according to it. Perhaps because he was used to dealing with Aomine and his ridiculous plans, Kuroko ended up underestimating the redhead’s genius. He wouldn’t ever again, however.

 

“Just be honest,” added Akashi, putting his hands on top of the bluenette’s shoulders and pushing him forward in the changing room’s direction. “If you keep bottling up what you feel or want to say, you’ll eventually blow up. I quite like my manhood as it is, you know?”

 

“Really? The way you act, I was starting to get the opposite impression,” deadpanned Kuroko, crossing his arms over his chest as he just let the redhead do whatever he wanted and push him inside of the changing room. Once in there, he turned around and looked at him. “So this is what you’re aiming at with this “date”, Akashi-kun? Forcing different types of women’s clothing on me? I thought you’d be more creative with your teasing.”

 

“This is only the first of many courses to come,” announced Akashi, chuckling softly at the bluenette’s expressionless demeanour. “If I went all out from the start, it wouldn’t be as amusing later on. So I’ll be taking my time savouring it, bit by bit.”

 

Akashi motioned his hand forward and pulled the curtain of the changing room shut.

 

“Start taking your clothes off,” said Akashi from the other side of the curtain. “The amount of time you spend here trying out different clothes depends on you. The more you cooperate, the less time you get to stay stuffed inside your so hated clothes store. I’ll go look for some suitable clothes for you while you’re getting ready.”

 

_ Part of me wants to throw a fit and stay dressed but Akashi-kun is right on what he’s saying… The more I cooperate, the quicker he gets to do his teasing and the faster this date goes by, _ inwardly mumbled Kuroko, slowly starting to undress his mother’s clothes.  _ Though I will never admit that I agree with him…! _

 

“Have you taken your clothes off?” asked Akashi a couple of minutes later. He inserted his hand inside of the changing room, next to the closed curtain, and outstretched it towards the bluenette. “Give me your clothes. It would be bad if we were to accidentally mistake your clothes for the ones in the store.”

 

_ Cooperation, Kuroko Tetsuya, cooperation, _ reminded himself Kuroko in the back of his mind. He picked up his clothes from the small bench in the changing room and slammed them against the redhead’s hand.  _ But if he says anything about me keeping my underwear on, I swear I’ll- _

 

“Did you come to our date on commando, Kuroko?” asked Akashi as he checked and correctly folded the bluenette’s clothes, placing them afterwards inside of the changing room beside the one Kuroko was using. “Isn’t that a bit too risqué, taking into consideration you came wearing a dress?”

 

“...just kill me already…” mumbled Kuroko with a small voice as he removed his boxers and then slipped them outside of the changing room in the same fashion as the redhead had.

 

“Boxers again?” sighed Akashi, shaking his head in disappointment. He grabbed onto some of the clothes he had gathered from the store and inserted his hand inside of the changing room a second time. “I have the perfect replacement for them, then.”

 

“I’m not wearing that,” immediately declared Kuroko, his face smeared in a blushing red as he saw the two pieces of female underwear. “Akashi-kun, no matter what you may say or how you may try to manipulate or coerce me, I will  _ not _ put that on!”

 

“Kuroko, if you walk outside while naked, you’ll be arrested for public indecency, you know?” pointed out Akashi, his voice sounding as evil as Kuroko pegged his expression to be at that moment. “Oh… Or is it that you don’t know how to put them on? You should have said something right away if that’s the case.”

 

“T-That’s not it!” yelped Kuroko, taking a hold of the curtain to stop the redhead from opening it and stepping inside of the changing room. “I-I’m a man! I obviously can’t use female underwear!”

 

“It’s just a piece of fabric,” added Akashi. He somehow managed to keep his hand inside of the changing room, but he was facing quite a bit of difficulty in getting the curtain to open the bare minimum to also slip his body inside. “If you can put on Teikou’s female school uniform and dresses on the days off, you obviously can also use female underwear.”

 

“Those are completely different!” countered Kuroko in a total panic, his body shivering just the slightest amid his nakedness. “Actually, how can you put underwear on the same level as a school uniform and dresses!?”

 

“You’re overthinking too much, Kuroko,” sighed Akashi, giving a strong pull at the curtain but failing at getting it out of the bluenette’s grip. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Everyone can see you using skirts and dresses. But no only will ever know what kind of underwear you use underneath them. Do you think that people walk around the street wondering what others are using underneath their clothes?”

 

“Then why should it matter if I use male or female underwear?” pointed out Kuroko, now really starting to struggle over getting the curtain closed. It seemed that Akashi was finally getting serious about stepping inside the changing room. “No one cares or thinks about what I use underneath my dress, right? Then please let me use what I feel more comfortable with!”

 

“I know and care about what you use underneath your dress so that argument of yours has become invalid,” countered Akashi, searching around with his eyes for anything that he could use to make Kuroko give up on the struggling. When he spotted something on the ceiling, directly on top of the bluenette’s changing room, Akashi knew he had already scored the second point of the day. “Kuroko, listen. You have two choices here. You put the underwear on, followed by the rest of the clothes. If you don’t know how, I’ll give you a hand. If you decide on not putting this underwear on, then I’ll ask the store attendant to raise the air conditioning. Naked as you are, you won’t be able to keep on holding the curtain in place while teetering around with cold. The probability of you catching a cold would also be quite high. Which will it be?”

 

“I-I prefer to catch a cold,” said Kuroko, momentarily moving one of his hands away from the curtain to try to push the redhead’s hand from inside the changing room. “Wouldn’t that be the perfect excuse to not having to deal with you?”

 

_ Though I don’t necessarily want to stay at home more than I already do, _ added Kuroko in the back of his mind, another shivering attack coursing through his body.

 

“In that instance, I’ll play the ‘boyfriend card’ and go visit my sick girlfriend to bring her worksheets and nurse her back to health,” declared Akashi, using the opportunity of the bluenette attempting to push his hand away to take a hold of his wrist. He gave a quick tug to the pale limb and pulled Kuroko’s torso from inside the changing room. With a smirk on his lips, he said, “You have no way of winning this round, Kuroko. Just give it a rest already and proudly admit you lost.”

 

“Uhh… I-It’s your win…” conceded Kuroko, his head dropping in defeat.

 

“Good boy,” acknowledged Akashi, using his free hand to pat the bluenette’s head. He took a step forward and gently pushed Kuroko fully back inside of the changing room. He couldn’t quite help himself this time and let his smirk grow to its full extent. “Now then, it’s time to put this panties and bra on you.”

 

“C-Can I put them on myself…?” requested Kuroko, inching away from the redhead until the back of his legs bumped on the bench. He would really like to cover his nakedness with his hands or any other thing, but was it worth it to give Akashi even more excuses to tease him? Probably not…

 

“I don’t know. Can you?” asked back Akashi in pure mischief, adjusting the curtain behind myself so it was fully closed. “Turn around and grab your hair. It might get stuck in the bra and hurt you.”

 

“I hate you so much…” grumbled Kuroko, hesitantly facing his back at the redhead while taking a hold of his light blue hair, which he softly pulled to the front of his torso to keep his back fully exposed. “I really hate you…”

 

“I’m used to being hated so feel free to keep on saying that until you really, truly hate me,” said Akashi, pushing the bluenette’s arms forward so he could slip them inside of the bra’s straps. He pulled closer to Kuroko’s torso and adjusted it against his chest, afterwards certifying himself that he hooked the bra with the appropriate size. “There, it’s done. Did your hair get stuck anywhere?”

 

“N-No, it’s okay,” awkwardly answered Kuroko, adjusting his hair so it wouldn’t be stuck inside of the bra. With his cheekbones completely flushed red, he continued. “U-Um… Aka-”

 

“Can I leave you in charge of the panties while I go get the rest of your clothes?” asked Akashi, placing the underwear on top of the bench. “Or do you also need me to help you put them on?”

 

“I-I can put them on myself, thank you very much!” yelped Kuroko, readily grabbing the underwear to avoid them being snatched away by the redhead once again.

 

“I trust that you won’t try to sneak in your underwear while I’m away,” chuckled Akashi, once again giving a soft pat to the bluenette’s head.

 

Akashi turned around and exited the changing room, neatly closing the curtain behind himself. He then started walking towards the clothes’ area of the store but, halfway through it, came to a stop.

 

“...” Akashi lifted his hand and half hid his face with it, a soft blush dusting his cheeks. “It explains so many things… but I wasn’t quite counting on it…”


	13. Bait

“Hm… This is starting to get quite hard,” mumbled Akashi to himself, neatly sat down on a sofá as he scanned the bluenette’s figure from head to toes.

 

“We’ve been at this for hours now…” groaned Kuroko, having grown mentally exhausted so early in the day. Part of him had already become desensitised, after having changed his clothes again and again, again and again. Light shirts and tops, skirts and shorts, dresses of all lengths and designs, Kuroko was probably the first customer to have tried out two-thirds of the store in a single morning. “Aren’t you tired of this already, Akashi-kun…?”

 

“I confess I wasn’t expecting women’s clothing to fit you this nicely,” said Akashi, observing the bluenette one more time before he looked sideways to the small piles of outfits he had gathered for Kuroko to try. “I intended on teasing you for a while by having you dress feminine clothes that didn’t suit you. But surprises of all surprises, whatever I make you dress, it looks good on you.”

 

“After all of this, I appreciate the compliment and the fact I’ve somewhat ruined your plans, but please make up your mind once and for all,” deadpanned Kuroko, taking a quick peek at the mirror beside him afterwards. If he was to forget about the extremely important detail that he was just a man on drag… the clothes really did suit him. The thought of it alone made his skin crawl. He couldn’t forget, he could never forget. He sighed. “You said you didn’t want to have a one-sided date with me. Can we please wrap up things here and go somewhere else, Akashi-kun? Or you can just give up on new clothes and give back my own.”

 

“I had them sent somewhere safe so that’s no longer an option for you,” announced Akashi, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He got up from the sofá, scavenged through one of the neatly arranged piles of clothes and walked towards Kuroko, holding in his hands one of the outfits he had previously forced on the bluenette. “Due to lack of time, I can settle myself with this one. But I’m far from satisfied, Kuroko. Don’t forget that.”

 

“I will never go to a clothes store with you again,” warned Kuroko, twisting his nose just the slightest as he received the clothes. The reason why he didn’t rebuke Akashi too much wasn’t just because he was sick and tired of trying out clothes - the final choice was a simple and cosy blouse and skirt set, nothing too flashy or revealing. It was far more acceptable than some of the previous dresses or tops he had been coerced into putting on. “Please give me a couple of minutes…”

 

After following Kuroko with his eyes, Akashi called the store attendant and began settling the bill with her. It truly was a pity that he couldn’t have followed through with his plans but, in exchange, he had gotten much more than he had initially bargained for.

 

_ That classmate of his called him a ‘pretty face’, but Kuroko is much more than just that, _ inwardly noted Akashi as he returned to the changing room area.  _ Even though he’s male, he has a small, slender frame. He doesn’t have much muscle to speak of but his limbs still have a good proportionality to them. Kuroko looks better in women’s clothing than most women do. No wonder his female classmates look at him with such contempt. They’re jealous of ‘her’ even though he’s a ‘him’. _

 

“Hehe… I can’t wait to see their faces when they find out he’s a man,” chuckled Akashi with a small voice, an amused expression on his face as he saw Kuroko coming out from the changing room wearing the clothes he had been given. “Pride will be erased from their dictionaries forever when such a moment arrives.”

 

“...?” Kuroko tilted his head when he heard those mumbles coming out of the redhead’s mouth. A suspicious frown soon followed. “What are you scheming now?”

 

“Nothing at all,” said Akashi, a smile on his lips as he got up and walked to the bluenette’s encounter. He motioned his hand forward, offering it at Kuroko to hold. “Shall we go to the next dating spot, Kuroko?”

 

“I’m slightly scared to ask but… where are we going next?” reluctantly inquired Kuroko, still observing the redhead with suspicion written all over his face. He didn’t even dare to move a single inch to shoo away his hand, such was the bad feeling he was experiencing on his gut.

 

“You have clothes that fit you so all that’s missing is a look that fits the clothes,” explained Akashi, his smile widening even further - though it was to change to a knowing smirk rather than a delighted show of happiness. He took Kuroko’s hand and guided the reluctant bluenette towards the clothes store’s entrance. “You have nothing to be scared of, Kuroko. They are one of the best professionals in their field. They will surely make a dashing, lovely young woman out of you.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, such was his confusion that he didn’t do much to free his hand from Akashi’s grasp. He only awkwardly observed the redhead as he removed his cell phone from his pocket, dialled a number and then put the electronic device next to his ear.

 

“Good morning, Mibuchi-san,” greeted Akashi, doing his utmost to not startle the bluenette next to him with the next phase of his ‘evil plan’. It would be terrible if Kuroko was to escape now that he was so close to scratch out one more step to drive him into a corner. “I’m a bit delayed in my schedule, as you probably noticed. Would now be a good time to go there? ...Yes? That’s perfect. We’ll be there in around 15 minutes. ...Yes, I think you’ll take a liking to the small gemstone I’ve found.”

 

“Um… Akashi-kun…?” hesitantly called Kuroko, gulping down hard as he caught a certain dark glint in his red eyes.

 

“Yes, Kuroko?” answered Akashi, returning his cell phone to his pocket after ending the call. He looked over to the bluenette, a radiant smile on his lips.

 

“W-Where are we going?” fearfully asked Kuroko, starting to drag his feet a little bit to slow down their walking pace and make the trip to the unknown place take longer than planned. At the very least, until he figured out where they were going.

 

“If you stay well behaved and cooperative, I’ll take you to Hidemi Sugino,” proposed Akashi, instead of revealing the next location. He knew Kuroko would freak out and run away if he told him he was about to be taken to a hairdresser to have his hair and makeup done. Might as well save the ‘evil’ surprise to until they were right in front of Mibuchi’s workplace. “The pastry store is closed on Sundays but I’m able to pull a few strings and have you enjoy an unlimited buffet of pastries and sweets for the entire afternoon. Including his signature creation.”

 

“Y-You won’t be able to fool me with the prospect of food, Akashi-kun,” warned Kuroko, though his stomach gave a small, silent cry of protest at his words.

 

“Hm… A trip to Toshi Yoroizuka would be nice too,” continued Akashi, faking a thinking expression while observing Kuroko’s response to this second bait. It seemed his quick research on famous dessert shops in Tokyo was paying off because the bluenette was nearly salivating at the mention of those two stores alone. “The live desserts are as much a feast to the eyes as they are to the stomach.”

 

“Is it… Is it open on Sundays?” shyly asked Kuroko, feeling his stomach once again protesting for some attention and, most of all, for some sugary treats.

 

“It is,” acknowledged  Akashi, both of them restoring the same walking speed as when they first exited the clothes store.

 

_ Hehehe, I’ve got you hook, line and sinker, Kuroko. _

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to read more chapters and more fanfictions, including the ones Ao3 has deleted, go [here](https://mafyswritinghut.blogspot.com/). (construction ongoing)  
> New blog with all fics, chapters, webnovels and explanations why I decided to not even put a fight and leave Ao3 instead.


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